MIB and One G
by Ravyn Knyght
Summary: Fic using Angel Raye's characters. Leading up to a SM FFX crossover
1. Chapter 1

--Been a while since I wrote. Thought I'd do something with Angel Raye's Crystal Senshi. -- Ravyn

M.I.B. and One G.By – Ravyn Knyght

--The Last Job--

"This is how I pictured it, Loki." Gemma contentedly admitted as the two leaned back against the bar. "You said it. Just think, when this job's over, this will be the norm." Loki agreed. "Say, where's Kisaragi at?" Gemma said taking a sip of his drink. "Trying out her new system…as if it will be any different from all her other 'systems'." Loki chuckled. "She'll perfect that half baked spell of hers' before she comes up with the perfect system to win at cards." Gemma laughed. Just then their pagers went off. "It's Makata." Loki sighed as he pulled out his cell phone. "Yeah boss, what's up? Okay. We'll be there.". "New plan?" Gemma asked. "Doubt it will work though." Loki said tossing a few bills on the counter to pay for their drinks. "Let's save Kisaragi from herself and head out." he sighed.

"I was this close!" Kisaragi whined as the three met with their boss. "To what? Bankruptcy?" Makata angrily scolded. "You can socialize all you want after our contract is up. Got it?" their leader reminded. "Party pooper!" Kisaragi retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. "Come on! No fighting children! It's our last job!" Loki cheered. "So what's the plan?" Gemma said as he tuned up his plasma rifle. "Head on attack. We're on point." Makata said as he turned his laptop around to show his co-workers the devised plan of their contractor. "How many is Yolei committing?" Kisaragi asked. "Sixty-five air support and four hundred ground support." Makata informed them. "Brawn over brains." Loki pointed out. "Simple and to the point." Gemma simply stated. "Doomed to fail. Good stuff!" Kisaragi added. "Finished?" Makata said glancing around at them. "Whether we like it or not, it's an order. Let's just get it done. It's our last one so let's do it up." Makata said plainly before he left. "Maybe retirement will do him some good. He's been too depressed lately." Kisaragi said worrying about their leaders' mood lately. Gemma and Loki nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Give that back!" Melody growled as her great grandmother pulled her laptop away from her. "You're supposed to be resting. Staring at that screen isn't any good for you concussion." Amy warned. Melody just sighed. "I know but these MIB guys are giving us so much trouble. It's hard to come up with strategies to counter them." Melody said lying back down. "Well from what we gathered so far, these MIB characters are the best of the best. They've helped take over many worlds." Amy recalled. "Knock! Knock!" Rayna called as she came into her teammates' hospital room. "You doing alright?" she asked as she looked over some of the files scattered across Melody's bed. "This guy is soo hot!" she exclaimed, holding up a picture of Loki. Amy and Melody groaned. "I'm fine. Just a little headache that's all." Melody said taking back the photo. Rayna then started playing with Melody's laptop. "Well then pop a couple of aspirin already! There's this new nightclub we're checking out tonight. Chess! Would it kill you to throw a couple have half decent games on this thing?" Rayna whined. Amy leaned close to her great granddaughter, "I thought her great grandmother was a flake!" she whispered in her ear, Melody giggled. "Huh? Am I missing something?" Rayna asked, with a blank look on her face. "Nothing!" Melody answered.

"Hey! Airhead!" Ashley called as she clamped a chokehold on her friend. "Clear off, BRAT!" Rayna gagged as she struggled to free herself. "Enough!" Amy yelled as she grabbed the two by their ears, separating them. Melody laughed at first but then moaned in pain as her headache flared up. "Out!" Amy ordered, dragging them out of the room. 'Did this generation go though a time loop?' Amy wondered thinking about Serenity and Raye. As she was dealing with the two, several loud explosions shook the palace as an alarm sounded. "We're under attack!" Elysian Venus said running past them. "Oh yeah!" Ashley squealed as she transformed. "This better not take long!" Crystal Moon growled as she ran off to catch up with the others.

"Holy crap!" Crystal Jupiter exclaimed as she stared in disbelief at the security monitors. "We're surrounded!" Cosmic Uranus remarked as palace security teams and automated defenses were being quickly over run. "All remaining security teams fall back to the palace! I repeat! All remaining security teams fall back to the palace!" Sailor Venus announced over all radio channels while wondering how such a large attack force went so unnoticed. "Deploy all security bots to cover them! Once they're in, activate the barriers!" she informed her daughter. "Barriers are off line! That last blast overloaded our power systems, we're running on back ups." Cosmic Venus reported back. "Damn it! We're up then!" Venus ordered as she and the others headed for the outside only to be blocked by Sailor Saturn. "That won't be necessary." she informed them. "We're being over run! Radar has forty-five carrier ships converging on us on top of the twenty battle cruisers that are on top of us!" Venus roared, Sailor Saturn refused to move. "Just wait a little longer. That's what I was told to tell everyone." "I gave no such order!" Serenity declared. "No you didn't. Alexander did." Saturn told them, then teleported out of the control room. "Has she gone mad?" Cosmic Venus questioned, "He died over sixty years ago!"

"Come on! That all you got?" Gemma yelled as he took out another squad of sentry bots. "Dibs on the throne room goodies!" Kisaragi hollered back as she headed for the main doors, frying any and all opponents in her way with lightning spells. "You will go no further." Sailor Saturn warned, blocking the young sorceress' path. "As if!" Kisaragi scoffed. "Believe it!" Sailor Mars shot back as both her pendant and Saturn's began to glow. "You old crows need to chill out! Blades of Ice!" Kisaragi conceitedly replied as she sent a barrage of ice shards towards the two scouts. "They'll be killed!" Cosmic Mars cried as she and several other scouts left the control room to join the fight.

As the ice shards were about to strike, a wall of fire swirled around both Mars and Saturn, quickly destroying the ice projectiles, then fanned out towards the on coming attackers. "What the – Multi Wall!" Kisaragi exclaimed as she quickly cast a barrier around herself and her comrades to guard against the wall of flame. She dropped the barrier to attack after the fire passed them, only to come face to face with a large monster. "Well that was effective." Makata commented as the wall of fire incinerated the majority of their ground support. "So is this!" Gemma added as he opened fire on the creature, Kisaragi barely getting out of the way of the incoming plasma rounds. The shots struck their target, knocking the creature back. "You were saying?" Kisaragi questioned as the creature was charging towards them. "My turn!" Loki shouted as he rushed the creature, landing several sword strikes that took it down and severely wounded the creature. "Wanna play with fire, huh? Scorching Inferno!" Kisaragi's attack struck the creature full force, but instead of finishing it off, the spell healed the creature. "Back off and let the air support deal with this thing!" Makata ordered, 'Where did they get that thing!' he wondered as he signaled the warships to fire on both the palace and the creature.

"Now your gonna get it!" Kisaragi warned as she raised another barrier to protect herself and her comrades from the impending bombardment. "No." Saturn murmured as the ground began to shake. "Protect us!" she yelled as the warships weapons began firing. As the artillery rounds closed in, a huge pair of wings shrouded the palace. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Loki asked in amazement. "If it's a big machine with wings then, yes." Gemma replied. "Business just picked up." Makata commented as both they and the palace were sheltered from the impact.

"Keep firing!" Yolei ordered as her orbiting flagship positioned itself directly above the defending creature. "Main plasma cannon online!" an operator reported. "Do it." Yolei ordered in a cold voice. "But what about the M.I.B.? They're still in there!" the operator reported. "Do as your told!" Yolei demanded. 'I will not fail!' she thought as the operator carried out the order. "She's firing on us!" Kisaragi exclaimed. "Isn't that a breach of contract?" Gemma wondered aloud. "Brace yourself Kisaragi." Makata warned as the immense energy blast came down on them engulfing the creature and everything it was shielding.

"What's happening?" Cosmic Mars asked her mother only to get no response. "Grandma! Are you alright?" Elysian Saturn asked, trying to shake her grandmother out of her daze. "Everyone evacuate to the Time Gate!" Crystal Pluto ordered. "Too late!" Uranus shouted as the entire palace shook from the impact.

"That did it!" Yolei laughed as she watched the ensuing explosion destroy everything. Her blood ran cold, however, as the blast waves subsided. "That's impossible! They should have been vaporized!" she screamed as the outline of the winged creature emerged. "Report!" she ordered. "Creature is still there and we're sitting ducks! All our defensive and offensive systems are down!" one of her bridge crew replied in a panicked voice.

"We're alive?" Cosmic Moon astounded as she looked around to see everyone still alive. "Now's our chance!" Crystal Mars shouted as she and the other Crystal Scouts headed out to finish off the remaining attackers. "What the hell is going on out there!" Amy called in on her communicator. "I wouldn't know where to start!" Cosmic Mercury responded back, but get all available medical teams out to retrieve the wounded!" she finished as she herself headed out to assist them.

"I think we're in over our heads on this one." Gemma said, reloading his weapon. "Uh, guys? A little help over here!" Kisaragi shrieked as the first monster was chasing her. "I'll deal with it." Makata said as he struck the creature with a powerful energy beam. As the creature shook off the effects of the blast, Makata rushed in and fought the creature hand to hand. ""We've got company!" Loki reported as he dodged Crystal Uranus' attacks. "Gemma! Take out those wings!" Makata ordered. Gemma took aim, and was charging his weapon when Crystal Saturn's scythe cut through it. "Well!" Gemma exclaimed as he pulled out a back up rifle from under his coat. "Take your best shot!" Crystal Saturn challenged, just then the wings of the other creature parted revealing the surrounding fleet. "Don't mind if I do little girl!" Gemma laughed, taking aim at her.

"All ships! Fire!" Yolei ordered, seeing the opening. "Now what?" Crystal Moon wondered as she stared skyward. Once the creatures' wings were fully withdrawn, several large compartments opened up on it revealing a multitude of cannons. With out warning the creature fired on all of the surrounding ships, destroying them instantaneously. "Ka-Boom!" Crystal Mars excitedly remarked as she watched the battle fleet be completely eradicated. After the creature's weapons struck their targets, it vanished along with the other creature that Makata was fighting. Both Sailor Mars and Saturn collapsed to the ground unconscious. "You're next! Jupiter Chain Lightning!" Crystal Jupiter declared as she blasted Loki. "Didn't feel a thing…" Loki muttered as he fell to his knees.

"This ends now." Makata told Crystal Moon as he landed several blows that sent her to the ground. Just as he was about to finish her off with an energy attack, his watch started beeping. "Does that mean what I think it means?" Gemma asked as he held both Crystal Venus and Elysian Venus upside down by their ankles. Makata let out a heavy sigh as he canceled out his attack and walked away. "Let's go." He ordered. "Woo-hoo! Party time!" Kisaragi cheered, "That frog spell will wear off in a few hours…I think." she told Crystal Jupiter. "Here's my card, call me." Loki flirted with Crystal Neptune. Crystal Moon let out a huge sigh, 'I thought I was a goner!'. Gemma promptly dropped both Venus scouts and joined up with his team. "Excuse me? What just happened here?" Crystal Pluto asked as she and the other scouts watched the four just walked away. "We're not finished!" Crystal Mars stated as she ran after them. "Kisaragi." Makata said while giving her a familiar look. "One stop spell coming up!" she happily complied and snapped her fingers. All but the Pluto Scouts and Crystal Moon were affected by the spell. "Wait just a minute!" Crystal Moon ordered as she, Elysian Pluto, Cosmic Pluto and Crystal Pluto jumped in front of them and prepared to attack. The four stopped and stared at the scouts for a moment. "Hmph! Damn warmongers." Makata uttered, then pushed his way past them, his comrades following behind him. 'Warmongers? Us?' Crystal Moon wondered as she watched M.I.B. make their way across the decimated landscape. Only then as she watched them leave did she look around to see the battles' end result.

Several days later…

"Both Hotaru and Raye are doing fine but they don't remember a thing about what happened." Amy told the other scouts in a meeting. "Any idea how such a large attack force appeared from nowhere?" Sailor Venus questioned. "None. All our satellite surveillance systems checked out fine. We have engineer crews recovering some of the wreckage. They might have used some new stealth technology to evade our satellites." Uranus said looking over some reports. "As soon as they're able too, Amy, I want to question both Raye and Hotaru myself on those two creatures that defended us." Rini informed her. "Of course. Now if this is all, I have a hospital full of wounded to attend to." Amy reminded everyone. "Very well. This meeting is adjourned." Serenity stated.

"There you are!" Ashley said, joining Rayna, who was deep in thought, on one of the higher balconies. "Geez! Good thing there's a five mile border around the palace!" Ashley commented in amazement as she took in the damage caused by Yolei's flagship. "Oh yeah…" Ashley remembered, "Way to drop the ball! Just letting them walk away like that!" she scolded. Rayna just glared at her. "If that's all you came here for, I'd like to be left alone." Ashley just made a sour face at her. "Shouldn't we be having a meeting or something about what happened?" Ashley pointed out. "I suppose." Rayna sighed staring out across the scorched landscape. "You suppose?" Ashley said staring wide eyed at her friend as she leaned back against the railing, "So what's up?" she inquired. "Ever get the feeling you're a fifth wheel?" Rayna asked then walked back inside, "Let's have that all important meeting.".

"So is that it?" Rayna said going over all the topics that were to be covered. As she silently went over the reports, adding her own notes, the other Crystal scouts used their laptops to send messages to each other:

Heartbreaker: What's her prob?

Snowcone: Not sure.

Hotmama83: Can't handle the pressure of being in charge.

Windwalker: What pressure?

Hotmama83: o LOL

Gothyka: Lay off! She almost bought it!

Shakenbreak: I don't think that's it.

Lostsoul234: Then what?

Ticktock: Think it has something to do with what M.I.B. said.

Hotmama83: What? What'd they say?

Bigcheese: Drop it.

The group slowly looked up to see Rayna glaring at them. "Well if we have nothing better to talk about then I guess we're done here?" Rayna asked getting up. The others just cleared their throats and promptly closed their laptops. "Meeting adjourned." Rayna called and left. "What did they say?" Ashley demanded. "I wanna know too!" both Chasity and Tiffany chimed in. "They called US warmongers! Can you believe that?" Jasmine scoffed. "A group of people that go from planet to planet fighting wars and profiting from them, call us warmongers?" Sydney questioned in a laugh. "Why would something so ridiculous bother Rayna?" Tiffany wondered. "She flakes out about any negative comments people make about her, nothing new." Ashley complained. "I suppose…but why did M.I.B. leave like that? I mean they were totally kicking our butts!" Gisselle questioned. "Don't you mean tad poles?" Ashley laughed while dodging a swipe from Lily. "You wanna find out?" Chasity grinned holding up the business card Loki gave her. "Let's prank call him!" Ashley piped up, pulling out her cell phone. "I have a better idea…" Melody started, "Hey Tiff, go catch up with Rayna. Let's get a plan together.". "Okay!" Tiffany replied and went after her friend.

Tiffany found Rayna out in the decimated palace grounds talking to some of the clean up crew. "Rayna! Melody has a plan to get M.I.B.! Let's go hear her out!" Tiffany called. "This place will never be the same." Rayna sadly commented as she watched the workers go about the long task of restoring the palace grounds. She walked over to where the main gates used to stand. She giggled at a trio of muddy sentry bots that were standing guard. ""What's wrong?" Tiffany asked, Rayna ignored her as she knelt down and brushed off some of the dirt and mud from them. "Can't have you guys looking like that now can we?" she softly told the little machines. "Don't do that! You could disconnect something and they might go haywire!" Tiffany nervously warned as Rayna continued to clean them off. 'Why did Snow ever create those things!' Tiffany pondered. "There!" she stated as she used the sleeve of her blouse to wipe off the last of the mud spots from they're optical lenses. "You treat them as if they were real people. Why?" Tiffany questioned. "They work just as hard at protecting this place as we do." Rayna said picking one up to dislodge some debris that was preventing it from walking right. "They deserve the same treatment and respect as everyone else around here. Off you go now." Rayna laughed as she put it back down. "You still upset about those M.I.B. losers calling you a warmonger?" Tiffany said getting to the point.

"It's just not that." Rayna sighed, scooping up a fistful of dirt as she looked out across the barren area surrounding the palace. "Is it Ashley and Sydney? What they said back there?" Tiffany asked trying to find the cause of her friend's problem. "It's not what was said. It's because it was all true." Rayna admitted as she let the dried earth slowly fall through her fingers. "What?" Tiffany cried in shock, not believing what she was hearing, "You can't be serious?" she stammered, wondering what brought about this change in her. "Look around you. All this is my fault. If I was a better leader we would have wiped out this commander Yolei and M.I.B. would have been beat long ago. People were dead and dying and all we thought about was fighting, even among all this destruction. Besides, what real purpose do I serve here anyway?" Rayna pointed out as she walked towards town. "Wait! Where are you going?" Tiffany asked following her. "Just hear out Melody's plan, okay? If you don't like it, just say so and we won't do it." Tiffany offered. "Alright." Rayna reluctantly agreed as they turned around and headed back to the palace.

--Next: On Common Ground—

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	2. On Common Ground

M.I.B. And One G. by – Ravyn Knyght

-On Common Ground-

"At least he looks happy." Ariel mused as she and her mother watched Snow rush about a hangar full of wrecked parts as he tried to figure out how the attack fleet got past his satellites. "I think it's a matter of pride with him." Amy added, happy that her son was slowly becoming himself again. "Do we dare tear him away from here?" Ariel wondered as they made their way over to him through the mounds of debris. "It's been four days since he's had a break. He shouldn't push himself like this." Amy worried, Ariel smiled as she remembered back when her mother helped her through her troubled childhood. Ariel quietly snuck up on her brother as he was deep in thought over a mangled mass of circuits and wires as Amy wondered what her daughter was about to do. Just as Ariel was about to grab his tail, "Don't even think about it!" Snow warned as he spun around. Ariel instantly put an innocent look on, "Think about what?" she asked batting her eyes at him. 'I'll get him yet!' she laughed to herself. "What did you guys come here for?" Snow asked, as he carelessly tossed the part he was studying into a nearby pile.

"Just thought you might want to go out to lunch with us." Amy asked and then got concerned when she saw the nervous look on his face, 'Still self conscious.' She thought. "I…I suppose." He half-heartedly replied, knowing that it would make his mother and sister happy if he went with them. "It will do you some good to get away from all this." Ariel commented. "Yeah…Just give me a few minutes to clean up." he said heading up to his office bathroom. "What's that look for?" Ariel questioned. "He's still not sure of himself yet." Amy thought, remembering back over the last two years. "He will be. He's come this far already." Ariel pointed out as they waited.

Annika and Brooke busied themselves as they cleaned up around Raye's quarters. "Please, really you two, I can manage this on my own!" Raye insisted, only to have her daughter sit her back on the couch. "We can handle this, just rest." Annika reminded her mother of Amy's orders. "This vase must've fallen, it's all cracked." Brooke noticed as she took it off the mantle to dust. "That's been like that for years." Raye said coming over. "What happened to it?" Brooke asked, Raye and Annika looked at each other and laughed. Brooke looked at them wondering what the joke was. "You still are holding to what happened that day?" Raye asked her daughter. "Of course!" Annika secretly smiled. "I'll tell you later." Stardust whispered. "Ashley and the other's meeting is running long, don't you think?" Brooke commented looking at her watch. "I have to go that way anyway so I check up on them." Raye offered and left quickly before the two could protest. "She doesn't remember anything?" Brooke astounded. "No. But it was definitely him." Annika said as she took an old picture of her family off the mantle.

Rini sat quietly sipping her tea as she thought about the events of the last few days. "I can't explain what happened exactly." Hotaru told her as she tried to think back. "It's just that I felt something.." she started, taking hold of her pendant. "You said Alexander told you to tell us to wait. Was there anything else?" Rini asked. "No. But I just had this feeling that everything was going to be alright." She answered looking at a picture of her son. "Rini, was the creature exactly the same as it was before?" Hotaru thought back to the creature's first appearance. "This time it was different. It destroyed all of Yolei's ships." Rini told her as she remembered the last time she saw the creature. "I think I was feeling what he was feeling back then. I think I finally understand why he did it." Hotaru concluded. "Creature…it sounds terrible calling your own child a creature." Hotaru admitted in a light laugh. Rini was shocked at her comment. "What are you saying? That thing was really Alexander?" Hotaru nodded. "The other creature…Annika and Brooke said they could sense Colt's spirit but Raye can't remember anything. If that's the case do you think it's possible…I mean the other crystals?" Rini wondered.

"Shh!" Chasity warned as the phone rang. "I'm glad you agreed to this!" Ashley grinned as she thought about how off guard they were going to catch M.I.B. Rayna just nodded, wondering if she was doing the right thing by approving the plan. "Turn me into a frog…" Lily muttered. "Hello? Is this Loki? This is Sailor Crystal Neptune." Chasity said as the others tried to keep quite. "I was wondering if we could meet?" she asked.

Loki started swatting at Gemma. "I told you she had a thing for me!" he whispered, covering the receiver. Kisaragi just rolled her eyes. "Sure." He replied and gave her the address of the nightclub they were hanging out at. "You sure that's a good idea?" Kisaragi questioned, " Don't you think that they'd…gee I don't know…be setting us up?" she finished. "No. No. You got it all wrong. This is love you guys!" Loki tried to convince them. "It was love last time too. Remember? Back on Minyuu seven?" Gemma reminded Loki. "How was I supposed to know that the groom was to be sacrificed?" he defended himself. "Lucky for you we came back in time." Kisaragi recalled. "You'll see." Loki angrily replied. "Say, where's Makata anyway?" Loki noticed the absence of their leader. "He's up on the dining floor. Think I head up there myself." Kisaragi said as her stomach growled. "I'm off to the private dining room then to make sure it's ready." Loki said, leaving Gemma at the bar. "Keep 'em coming". Gemma instructed the bar tender, 'It's going to be a long night.' He thought.

"I heard the restaurant on the second floor has food to die for!" Ariel exclaimed as she pulled into the parking lot. Snow glanced around at the people outside the nightclub, 'It's no big deal.' he told himself as he got out of the car. As they walked through the main floor to the elevator, Snow did his best to fight of the paranoia of everyone staring at him. "A keycard system?" Amy noted as Ariel swiped her member card. "Only members and invited guests are allowed upstairs. Pretty high class, don't you think?" Ariel said excitedly as they waited for the elevator. "Then how'd you get a card?" Snow tormented, Ariel stuck her tongue out at him. "Behave or we're going home." Amy scolded as they got on the elevator.

"Well here we are." Jasmine said getting out of the car. "Did we have to take the station wagon!" Gisselle whined thinking how ugly it looked compared to the other cars. "It was the only that can hold all of us, besides, I like the station wagon!" Jasmine shot back, defending the vehicle. "Who cares! Let's just pound the crap out of M.I.B.!" Ashley said enthusiastically as they entered the club. "Sorry but you can't come in." a door attendant told Ashley as he checked her I.D. "Why not?" she demanded, "Club rules. No one under sixteen can be admitted." The attendant told her. "Ah! Lady Neptune! Mr. Loki is waiting for you. Follow me." An employee said as soon as he saw her. As the man escorted Chasity to the elevator the other girls kept an eye open for the rest of M.I.B. "She's with me. We're going to the dining floor." Rayna told the man, referring to Ashley, showing him her member card.

Quickly spotting Gemma at the bar, both Jasmine and Gisselle took up the seats on both sides of him. "Bartender! Two tornados for my friends here." Gemma ordered as he quickly recognized the two girls. "Uh, we don't drink." Gisselle piped up as the bartender presented the drinks to them. "Well if you're going to sit with me you will. And if you're going to start a fight you could at least make it a fair one by being in the same state I'm in." he told them both as he pushed the drinks towards them. "Uh, no thanks!" Jasmine commented, refusing the man's offer. "Oh well." Gemma said downing the two drinks not wanting them to go to waste. "Not bad. Bartender, two more!" he ordered as Gisselle and Jasmine stared on in disbelief as they were now joined by some of the other scouts. "If he keeps this up, we won't have to do anything. He'll be dead of alcohol poisoning!" Melody whispered to Sydney who nodded in agreement.

"Where do you think the other three are?" Tiffany said as Rayna rooted through her purse. "Probably up on the second floor." Rayna replied swiping her member card. "Where did you get one of those?" Tiffany asked her friend. "Oh didn't I tell you? This is the nightclub I joined. I heard they had a killer restaurant." Rayna mentioned as they waited for the elevator. 'Figures food would have to be involved.' Tiffany laughed to herself as the doors opened and the three got on.

"Did you order enough?" Amy groaned as she watched the waitress come with the order on a trolley. "Just enjoy the fact someone else does the cooking." Ariel commented as she licked her lips in anticipation as the food was served. Throughout the meal Amy watched Snow's eyes constantly shift around the room to match some of the stares he was getting from the other diners. "Hey, isn't that Ashley?" Ariel wondered seeing the young girl sitting several tables across from her. "How did she get in here? She's much too young to be allowed in here." Amy said getting up to find out why the young girl was here.

From a table on the upper level of the dining room, Makata's trained eyes caught sight of the Sailor Scouts but paid them no mind as the waiter brought his order to him. ""I'm stuffed!" Kisaragi remarked, finishing off her seventh plate of lasagna. "I was wondering when such a task could be accomplished." Makata teased only to receive a kick under the table from the young sorceress. "That's quite a number of them don't you think?" she asked, also noticing the Sailor presence in the room. "Just ignore them. They're not our problem anymore." her boss reminded as he started in on his smoked salmon. "And if they start something?" Kisaragi inclined with a raised eyebrow. "Just get out as quick as possible. I'm not having my membership revoked because they want to fight." Makata warned as Kisaragi kept a close eye on the situation then focused her attention on one particular person. "That can't be…" she said standing up. "It is!" she squealed excitedly." "What now?" Makata sighed trying to see what she saw. "An Ensyrosian!" she declared as she quickly made her way down to the first level. "He's with them…there's goes our membership." Makata angrily sighed, thinking about the impending fight as he followed suit. As he made his way to the stairs, a young girl bumped into him, sending them both to the floor. "Oh, it's you." Makata said distastefully as he recognized the girl that was on top of him.

Chasity gazed around the lavish private dining room Loki had booked for them, in quiet awe. "I 'm glad you could make it. I must say you look exceptionally beautiful." Loki complimented, helping the young girl get seated. "Thank you, but you really shouldn't have gone through all this trouble!" she blushed while thinking, 'If I can keep him tied up here…'. "Think nothing of it. Besides I thought we could enjoy each other's company more away from the other members." Loki commented as a waiter presented them with menus. "You're so thoughtful!" Chasity said politely with a smile. 'I'm such a stud!' Loki praised himself.

"That hit the spot!" Gemma remarked finishing off another round. "I didn't know I was that entertaining." Gemma laughed as the girls were still standing around him. "So are we going to fight now or what?" he asked, looking the five of them over. The girls were momentarily stunned as they were trying to figure out why the biggest member of M.I.B. was still able to stand. "Well while you mull it over, myself and your friend here will be over there." He told the group as he dragged Jasmine off to the dance floor. "Hey wait!" Jasmine cried as she was pulled along, leaving the rest to wonder how they were to deal with him.

"I don't think we should have let her go by herself." Ashley said worriedly as she and Tiffany kept watch. "Ashley?" Amy called then noticed Tiffany. "What are you two doing here?" she asked as the two exchanged fearful looks as they tried to come up with a convincing lie. "Rayna had a member card and wanted to check this place out." Tiffany quickly blurted out with Ashley smiling, going along with the idea. "So this was the place Rayna was telling Melody about." Amy recalled then looked around. "Where is Rayna?" the two girls froze again as they thought about possible answers. Before they could reply though, a commotion from her own table caught Amy's attention as well as the two young scouts. "Hey! That's Kisaragi! Let's get her!" Ashley said jumping up seeing Ariel trying to pry the female member of M.I.B. off of her brother.

"Get your hands off of him!" Ariel grunted as she tried to separate the two. "Hey no fair hogging him all to yourself!" Kisaragi shot back as she pushed Ariel back. "What's your problem?" Snow demanded as he tried to figure out what was going on when without warning, Crystal Mars came out of nowhere and tackled Kisaragi to the floor. After quickly transforming, Crystal Venus contacted the others, signaling them to take out their targets.

Crystal Venus joined Crystal Mars in fighting Kisaragi while Amy, Ariel and Snow went about clearing out the guests to limit casualties. "Alright you little, snot nosed brats! I'm gonna mop the floor with ya's! Flash Fire!" Kisaragi roared as she let loose with a spell only to have it cancelled out by Makata. "Guys! Knock it off!" Rayna ordered as Makata contacted his partners. "Loki. Gemma. What's your status?" he called over his cell phone three-way. "She broke my nose! My perfect nose!" Loki whimpered as he defended himself from Crystal Neptune's attacks. "Everything's cool out here." Gemma answered as he looked down on the pile of Crystal Scouts he was sitting on top of. "This is SO humiliating!" Crystal Saturn muttered. "Shut up and get your elbow out of my ear!" Crystal Jupiter yelled. "Just came to talk huh?" Makata uttered as he glared at Rayna. "I think you girls better explain yourselves." Amy coldly demanded as Crystal Neptune and a battered Loki joined them. "Winning a battle isn't enough for you war mongers is it?" Makata put out to the Scouts. "You just wait a damn minute! Where do you get off calling us war mongers considering what you are!" Rayna fumed at the man's statement, "Besides you were the ones that started the fight!" she added as the two came face to face. "There wouldn't have been a fight if all of you didn't come here looking for one!" Makata's temper was now starting to boil.

As the two argued and Amy and her daughter dealt with the other Crystal Scouts, the other members of M.I.B. slipped out unnoticed. "You positively disgust me!" Makata sneered, "I disgust you! I'm not the one who takes blood money!" she snapped. "Blood money? We get paid for services rendered!" Makata angrily pointed out. "You call killing people services rendered?" Rayna raged at his casual attitude towards what he does. "I'm glad my group convinced me to come here to finish you off!" Rayna declared as she transformed. "You really are a lousy leader if your subordinates are the ones that make all the decisions!" Makata coldly laughed as he prepared to fight. "You're outnumbered so give it up!" Crystal Moon informed him of the absence of his team. "Of course their gone! I, their leader gave an order and they followed it. A good leader is never questioned by a team when they are told to do something." Makata said jabbing a finger in Crystal Moon's face. "That is enough!" Amy shouted over the two of them. "Rayna, you and the other Crystal Scouts go back to the palace. Be prepared to explain yourselves when you get back." Amy ordered then turned to Makata. "I suggest you and your group leave the planet immediately." she warned. "Where we choose to spend our retirement is up to us!" Makata growled as he left to join up with his comrades. "I don't know what you girls were thinking but there will be consequences for your actions today." Amy warned as she herded the young girls to the elevator to meet up with the rest.

"Geez! It's been a while since I've seen him this worked up." Gemma whispered to Kisaragi, who was tending to Loki's wounds, as he glanced back to an infuriated Makata. "Ouch! That stuff stings! Can't you use a heal spell instead?" Loki complained. "This is all your fault! You deserve to suffer." she said complacently then leaned in closer and whispered "This is exactly what he needed!" referring to their leader's state as he paced back and forth on the balcony of their rented penthouse while seemingly arguing with himself.

--Next: I'm All Right And You Need Work!—

Questions, comments, reviews; mail to : 


	3. I'm alright And You Need Work!

M.I.B. And One G – By Ravyn Knyght

--I'm All Right And You Need Work!—

All of the Crystal Scouts hung around outside of the main conference room as they waited for Rayna and Tiffany to come out. "They've been in there for a while." Sydney whispered to Melody who looked at her watch. "One hour and thirteen minutes." she noted, then went back to watching the doors. None of them wanted to trade places with their leader right about now who was facing all of the original Scouts plus the royal families and the other Venus senshi. "How long are they going to keep her in there?" Ashley sighed worriedly as her guilt for pushing Rayna into giving them the go ahead for the attack.

As the group waited, Elysian Uranus came back with a report for Sailor Uranus. "Weren't you all dismissed?" she stopped to ask the girls. "Yeah but we wanted to wait for Rayna." Gisselle quietly replied. "You guys already have enough to worry about so I suggest you all just go about your assigned punishments." she mentioned and entered the conference room. The girls used the opportunity to get a glimpse of the meeting. For the two second view, they could here Rayna try to defend why she gave the order to set up an ambush type attack against M.I.B. without consulting with the senior senshi teams. "Can you imagine what that must be like?" Jasmine whispered to Chasity. "I thought it was bad enough just to face the Elysian Scouts and Princess Chelsea but being up in front of all of them?" Chasity said and shivered. "We should have been in there too. It's more our fault then it was hers." Lily brought up only to get stern looks from the others. The door opened again as Crystal Moon came out. They all crowded around her asking questions. "The meeting isn't over yet. I was told to tell all of you to go back to your quarters." she informed them. "We just wanted to show you our support." Ashley offered but got a warning glance from their leader. "I gave you all an order. If you refuse then you'll be put on report. Understood?" Crystal Moon said harshly and then went back into the conference room. "Guess we better go then before we get her in more trouble." Jasmine sighed as they dispersed and went to their quarters.

Cosmic Moon came back to the conference room and took her seat before the council again as they resumed the disciplinary hearing. "Is there anything else you would like to add to your statement?" Crystal Venus asked as she reviewed her leader's statements. Crystal Moon thought for a few moments as she looked over her own notes to ensure that she had covered everything. "No. I have nothing else to add." she finally replied looking back up to her friend. "Then the council will recess and rule on the afore mentioned outlined charges. You are confined to your quarters until a decision is reached. You will be notified when this hearing will reconvene. You are dismissed." Queen Serenity stated. "Yes, Your Majesty." Crystal Moon replied and left the conference room.

"Well that was…interesting." Sailor Venus spoke as she reviewed Crystal Moons' statements. "I don't think we ever had someone file a counter charge against us?" Cosmic Mars questioned thoughtfully as she thought about what Crystal Moon had said about herself and the Sailor senshi in general. "She certainly put some thought into it that's for sure." Elysian Venus admitted as she and the other Venus senshi debated about a list of suitable disciplinary actions for the council to decide upon should they rule in favor of a guilty verdict. "I think it would be best if we dismissed Crystal Moons' counter charge as it is irrelevant to the contents of the hearing." Sailor Uranus put to the others.

"I think she brought up a valid point and it should be taken into consideration and not swept under the rug." Crystal Venus spoke up to defend her friend's beliefs. The entire council focused in on the young girl whose nerves began to get the better of her. "You have been assigned with the task of assisting the other Venus senshi in deciding a suitable punishment. Also I'd like to point out your involvement in this matter as well as the fact you were permitted to sit on this council hearing as a learning experience." Princess Chelsea reminded the young girl sternly. "Regardless of the reason I am to sit on this council, I am part of this council and I will have a say in such matters. If I'm not mistaken this is supposed to be a council representing of all the Sailor senshi and not the selected few." Crystal Venus answered back forcefully as she stiffened up in her seat.

"You are correct but the focus of this council is on the leadership abilities if Crystal Moon. I will admit her statements were very thought provoking but have nothing to do with why she authorized the Crystal Scouts to attack a group that was aligned with an enemy of the interstellar planetary alliance without disclosing her intentions with the rest of this council. You yourself stated that this council is to represent all divisions of the Sailor senshi. Crystal Moon acted without the consideration or guidance of this council did she not?" Queen Serenity asked Crystal Venus. "Well yes but…" she started. "Tell me. What was your contingency plan should your initial plan have failed and resulted in both civilian and senshi casualties?" Sailor Neptune asked, Crystal Venus was stuck for an answer. "It was just luck that Sailor Mercury and Cosmic Mercury were there at that moment. You do realize that you were engaging a superior, more experienced enemy then yourselves which could have resulted in fatalities if no one knew where you were." Cosmic Venus brought up, Crystal Venus just clenched her fists and remained silent as she tried to think of an answer.

As Rayna approached her quarters it was obvious that someone had the stereo system cranked all the way up. 'It can't be my sister, she's in school now?' Rayna noted as she looked at her watch. She entered her home cautiously not knowing what to expect. Seeing no one in the living room she walked over and turned the stereo off. "Who's in here?" she called out while clutching her transformation pen and soon got her answer as a familiar person came from the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. "Just a few more spells and this could have been my place!" Kisaragi sighed. "How did you get past security!" Rayna demanded as she transformed. "Teleport spell. Duh!" the young girl replied, looking back over her shoulder as she strolled into the kitchen. Crystal Moon quickly followed the female member of M.I.B. into her kitchen to confront her.

"You may have got into the palace but no way am I letting you out of it!" Crystal Moon declared, but was ignored as Kisaragi rummaged through the refrigerator. "Ou! Roast chicken!" she commented as she pulled it out and teleported to the dining room while leaving Crystal Moon blankly staring at the spot where the sorceress was just standing. She rushed out of the kitchen to find the young woman at the dining room table. "Oopps! I forgot the essentials!" she sang and teleported back to the kitchen. Within a few seconds and before Crystal Moon could react, Kisaragi was back with a plate and utensils. "Now cut that out!" Crystal Moon demanded. "Oh? Did you want some?" she asked and disappeared and reappeared with another plate and utensils for Cosmic Moon. "That's it! I'm calling security!" Crystal Moon threatened. "Jeez! Chill out would you? You can have the lousy chicken!" Kisaragi angrily huffed while snapping her fingers and sending everything back to its rightful place. "So what do you wanna do?" she then asked, Crystal Moon just stared at her in disbelief.

"You do realize that when subjected to enough pain, anyone will talk." Makata threatened his two remaining teammates as he tried to ascertain the whereabouts of their fourth member. "Kisaragi would never talk no matter what!" Loki insisted. "I'm referring to the two of you!" Makata growled, causing the two men to flinch. "And why do I need to worry about Kisaragi talking?" he followed up as the two men swallowed hard thinking of a reply. "She uh…kinda…" Gemma started, "Went to the royal palace to talk to that Rayna chick!" Loki blurted out while cringing in fear of Makata's reaction. "She…went….where?" Makata slowly let out as his eyes narrowed. "What he said." Gemma quietly spoke, pointing to Loki. "Ah…I see." Makata uttered while looking rather meditative as he slowly walked away. The two men relaxed as they figured themselves off the hook. "AND YOU JUST LET HER GO!" Makata screamed as he towered over the two terrified mercenaries, "Don't kill us!" Gemma cried pulling Loki in front of himself.

"I can so relate to that." Kisaragi sympathized as Rayna explained her situation. As the two women talked, Kisaragi's cell phone rang. She glanced at the number and grimaced at the pending conversation. "Yell--low?" she cheerfully sang then winced in pain at the loud voice at the other end "I said, yell low! Where am I? Oh just hanging out at the palace. You have got to see this place from the inside!" she started but was quickly silenced as Rayna noticed the irate voice got louder. "I know...but…I was just…If you'd just let me explain…Oh no! Not that! Please!…No! Don't hang up!" Rayna watched the young woman's facial expressions go from cheerful, to down cast and then to sheer terror in a span of five seconds. "He hung up…" she whimpered fearfully as she quickly tried to figure out what to do. "Quick! You gotta help me!" she pleaded grabbing Rayna's hand and with a snap of her fingers the two teleported out of Rayna's quarters.

While the council debated the pros and cons of each punishment, a bright flash heralded the arrival of Rayna and Kisaragi. "What's the meaning of this!" Queen Serenity demanded as the other senshi quickly responded thinking they were under attack. "You gotta hide me! Please!" Kisaragi wailed rushing up to Queen Serenity only to be cut off by Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus. "Grant me…Oh what's that word?" she hurriedly thought while snapping her fingers to Rayna for help. "Sanctuary?" Rayna offered. "Yeah! That's it!" Kisaragi then turned to the council looking hopeful. "And why should we do that?" Cosmic Uranus put to the terrified blonde. "There'll be a murder if you don't!" she pleaded with Serenity then turned to Elysian Mercury. "You're a lawyer right? You'll defend me right?" Kisaragi asked while digging around in her pockets. "Here's thirty-two dollars and seventy-four cents…That's enough to put you on retainer isn't it?" she asked tearfully. "Are you serious?" Elysian Mercury asked incredulously. "What is all this about!" Rini demanded. "I'm too young to die!" Kisaragi bawled hysterically as she slumped to the floor before the council.

Sailor Uranus quickly alerted security forces as Rayna explained what she knew so far. "Should I dispatch another squad to arrest the other members of M.I.B.?" she asked as they awaited the arrival of Makata. "Yes but make sure they don't provoke them in any way." Cosmic Uranus warned as several guards entered the room. "Let's go!" they ordered but Kisaragi was too lost in her hysterics to comply, until Snow arrived with several security bots as backup. "Oh no.." he whimpered when he and Kisaragi locked eyes.

In one fluid motion Kisaragi snatched her money back from Elysian Mercury, blew past the two security guards and launched herself into Snow's arms, giggling like a schoolgirl. "You boys can go now. I have all the protection I need!" she cooed as she snuggled into Snow while waving off the guards. "You'll protect me from that mean ogre Makata, won't you?" she purred while loosing herself in his eyes. "That was easy. Snow, why don't you take her somewhere 'safe'." Sailor Venus insisted. "I'll go anywhere with you!" Kisaragi sighed amorously now with both her arms and legs wrapped around the shocked Ensyrosian. "Uh. Yeah. Okay." he muttered as he carefully made his way out of the conference room. "Let's put out the welcome mat." Sailor Jupiter stated as they got ready for the arrival of the other members of M.I.B.

"Hey! Come on, Makata! She didn't mean any harm by it." Loki insisted as the three drove up to the palace. "That's not the point. I gave an order. She disobeyed. There will be consequences." he said harshly as she shifted his icy glare from the road to his teammate who shrank in his seat. "I don't think we're going to be all that welcome here." Gemma noted as their car was quickly surrounded as they arrived at their destination. "Hi! We're here for the tour!" Loki said waving as the guards pulled the three men out of the vehicle. "Now remember where we parked. Third debris pile from the left of the entrance just before the mud puddle." Gemma reminded. "Where is Kisaragi?" Makata demanded as they were escorted along. "Same place you're going." the guard cockily replied. "Is that so?" Makata said raising an eyebrow.

"They just took out thirty armed guards and fifteen sentry bots!" Cosmic Mars gasped as she and several other Cosmic Scouts rushed out to fight them. "Let's make them wish they were never born!" Cosmic Jupiter said as she, Cosmic Mars and Cosmic Uranus came across the three.

Five minutes later…

"Have you seen this girl? She totally digs me!" Loki asked while showing a picture of Crystal Neptune to Cosmic Uranus who was tied up and hanging upside down together with Cosmic Mars and Jupiter. "Bite me." she spat, Loki leaned in closer, "Sorry you're not my type." he whispered then spun them around. "Let's go." Makata ordered as the three men continued on. "I want the security tapes of this burned." Cosmic Jupiter snarled. "Gloria will have a field day with this one." Cosmic Mars sighed.

As they made their way towards the tracer on Kisaragi's cell phone, Makata and company came across another group of scouts. "That's as far as you…go?" Elysian Saturn threatened as the three men pushed her aside. "Hey! Don't you dare ignore me!" she snapped running after them. Gemma stopped short causing her to slam into him then fall to the floor. "What should I do with this one?" he asked as he picked her up and held her by her ankles. "Too small. Toss her back." Loki shrugged, mentally measuring her. "Focus people! Forget her and just keep going." barked Makata, Gemma shrugged and effortlessly tossed Elysian Saturn towards the other Elysian Scouts. "We're just play things to them." Elysian Mercury thought as Elysian Jupiter caught the inbound Saturn. "I've never been so humiliated…" Hannah whined as Violet set her down.

'Well here I am. Locked in a cell. Locked in a cell with a cute but nuts blonde that refuses to let go of me.' Snow sighed tiredly while sitting down on the cell cot with the girl still clinging to him. "Uh…Kisaragi? You can let go of me, you'll be safe here." he insisted only to have her tighten her hold on him. "Don't you find this romantic?" she sighed dreamily while fussing with his hair. 'My life. Such as it is.' Snow muttered to himself. 'At least she's cute.' he thought in consolation. A few moments later the cell door was forcefully kicked open and Makata stormed in. "What were you told?" he yelled as Kisaragi quickly put Snow between her and Makata. "I was bored!" the blonde cried as she cowered behind her shield. "You jerks can all share the same cell if you'd like!" Crystal Moon said as she and the other Crystal Scouts surrounded the group. "Did I mention I'm not in the mood for you? Warmonger?" Makata snarled as he turned to face Crystal Moon.

The others stood and stared on as the two were at it again. While they argued, Loki approached Crystal Neptune. "Hey! I've been looking all over for you! I know this great place we can go to. Let's say I pick you up about seven-ish?" he asked only to get a slap in the face. "Not if you were the last criminal in existence!" Crystal Neptune declared. Gemma just looked at the group and sighed, "Now you know why I drink.", throwing an arm around Crystal Pluto. "Baby killer!" Crystal Moon shrieked to Makata's surprise. "That's a damn lie!" he growled and was about to follow up but stopped and stared at everyone. 'This is so childish! Why am I letting myself get dragged down to this level!' he angrily thought. "Kisaragi, let's go!" he ordered but was answered by Crystal Moon. "She's not going anywhere!" "I'm not?" the sorceress asked as she peeked over Snow's shoulder.

"If you all are retired then that means you don't have to take orders from HIM!" Crystal Moon pointed out. The members of M.I.B. stared thoughtfully at her for a few moments. "She does have a point there." Gemma pondered. "That's right! You go girl! Take that you bully!" Kisaragi exclaimed, coming up along side Crystal Moon and sticking her tongue out at her 'former' boss. "I so don't need this stress!" Makata moaned as he tried to think of a counter. "I'm gonna party and gamble 'til I drop!" Kisaragi cheered. "I'm going back to Minyuu Seven! There's a girl there that digs me!" Loki recalled fondly. "I'm gonna get drunk." Gemma griped. "Now look what you've done!" Makata barked at a smirking Crystal Moon. "What? I just pointed out that you're not in charge anymore." Crystal Moon conceitedly replied. "All this because I called you a warmonger?" Makata questioned, Rayna nodded. "I have no other choice. You've forced me to do this. I've never done this before in my life but what other options am I left with?" Makata sighed in defeat. "Uh-oh." Kisaragi whimpered and she hid behind Snow again. The Crystal Scouts got ready for a fight.

He looked to his comrades. "She's absolutely right. We're retired and I can't tell you what to do anymore. It's been great working with you all and I wish you all the best. Maybe we'll see each other sometime." he told his team. Makata then walked straight up to Crystal Moon, looked her dead in the eyes, cleared his throat… "I apologize. I shouldn't have called you a warmonger. I was wrong." Both she and the other members of M.I.B. stood there with their jaws on the floor as they watched him walk away. "In all the years I've known him…"Gemma started. "…No one ever won an argument with him…" Loki admitted in shock. "…He never apologizes…ever…" Kisaragi remarked in awe.

Just before he turned the corner, Makata stopped, turned to the crowd and said… "I should have called you a no good, trouble making, dissention inciting brat of a BITCH!"

--Next: That's Why I'm The Leader--

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	4. That's Why I'm The Leader

M.I.B. And One G By – Ravyn Knyght

--That's Why I'm The Leader—

"Hey! You getting all of this?" Cosmic Venus snickered as she butted a security bot with her boot heel while Cosmic Jupiter and Cosmic Uranus gave her death glares. "Just please let us down!" Cosmic Mars groaned, now with a severe headache from hanging upside down for so long. She was about to comply when two old senshi friends strolled in. "I've got to get in on some of this!" one exclaimed while the other just shook her head at his childish actions as she watched both him and Cosmic Venus spin the three around.

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait up!" Loki shouted as she caught up with Makata. "What was all that about?" he asked only to get no answer. "You owe us better than that." Gemma pointed out. Makata stopped and turned back to him. "I'll explain what I can in two weeks time after I meet with an old client. All I ask is that the three of you stay here on Earth until then. Go where you want but just don't leave." he told them both as another group of senshi came across them. Makata just looked at them and gave a tired sigh. "Save your Aeons. You'll need them for something bigger." Makata told both Sailor Mars and Sailor Saturn as he walked past them. "What? Wait. Do you know what these things are?" Mars asked, stopping him. "Excuse me. I have a meeting I must attend." he insisted with a look that told her to let him go as the Crystal Scouts caught up with them. "Oh. One more thing. Millennium said you guys need more training." he mentioned as he left. They were about to pursue when a call came over there communicators. "Guys. You're not going to believe this…" Elysian Mercury started.

Several hours later…

"That rat bastard!" Sailor Uranus said in an angry whisper as she glared at their two visitors. "I thought we agreed that type of training was no longer allowed and get off the table!" Serenity demanded. "Hey! Don't blame the boss! You know he can't do that anymore." Malice said jumping down to the floor. "Let me guess…Daddy's little girl." Sailor Neptune concluded. "Don't be mad at Areona. She just wanted to help get you guys ready." Dischord replied. "Well at least everything is back to normal. All palace grounds and surrounding areas have been restored, all wounded and even dead personnel are up and walking and all debris from the attack armada has vanished." Sailor Mercury recounted the events of the last three hours. "So I don't get any cool stuff to play with?" Snow whimpered as he thought of the warehouse full of wreckage that was now nothing. "We are not his personal play things!" Rini growled as she glared at the two dogs. "It wasn't play it was training for both you and them." Malice explained as he eyed Artemis on Sailor Venus's lap. "Now where did we leave off?" he thought back as he gave chase.

"Training? For what?" Cosmic Venus asked as she held a terrified Artemis out of the reach of the German Sheppard. "Once Makata gives his report. You guys will be filled in." Dischord answered. "You should be hearing from myself and Millennium in two weeks." Makata told the senshi council. "You mean we're still in training!" Loki cried in shock as he thought back to all the missions they were on together. "Fifteen years and it was all just training?" Gemma asked his boss. "But you aren't going to cut me off from my bank account, right?" Kisaragi confirmed. Makata sighed at her disinterest in what was happening. Everyone just glared at the woman and gave a groan of despair. "Just imagine what fifteen years of that was like." Makata grumbled. "I think I can." Sailor Mars admitted while giving an unnoticed glance to Neo Queen Serenity.

"There's my little sweeties!" a voice cheerfully sang as a flash of light announced Areona's arrival. "Like father, like daughter." Sailor Jupiter muttered as the young woman greeted Malice and Dischord. "Oh! They found you! Cool! Let's go!" she said to Makata and promptly teleported herself, her companion dogs and Makata from the palace. "What do you think is going on?" Elysian Uranus wondered. "If fifteen years of what we've been doing is nothing more than training, you better believe it isn't going to be good." Gemma put to the room full of people. "You guys got a bar?"

Elsewhere…

The group arrived at the forest mansion and greeted it's long time resident. "Wow. Has it been twenty thousand years already?" Millennium managed to ask before Makata sent him to the floor. "Hmph! So it's true." Makata sneered as he looked down on Millennium as he wiped a trickle of blood that was coming from his mouth. "Hey, now come on! Play nice children!" Areona playfully scolded the two men. "She better be as good as you." Makata threatened as he glared at Areona. "It'll be her first time fighting it but she'll do fine. What's this now? You're sixth time?" Millennium asked, getting up. "I don't care so long as I know it will be your last time." Makata smiled. "Don't worry. You'll out live your enemies, but remember you still owe me one." the Psypath reminded.

Two weeks later…

"You're joking, right?" Ashley scoffed as she and the other Crystal Scouts sat around the table in their meeting room staring wide-eyed at what they just heard. "No. I'm not. Although it took a long debate it was decided that it would be done. Even though it was all just one big illusion, the way these types of training sessions work, is that they show how things would actually turn out." Tiffany explained to the group. "So where is Rayna now?" Gisselle asked about the absence of their former leader. "Rayna has been relieved of all senshi responsibilities and is ordered to take a special training program for the remainder of the year. She has already left the palace early this morning." Tiffany informed them. "But that's seven months! She could have least said good bye!" Lily remarked at the suddenness and extreme length of time that their friend would be gone. "She…didn't want to see us before she left. She was pretty mad." Tiffany quietly finished. "I guess she blames us." Melody figured as she thought back over the whole ordeal. "We probably shouldn't have given her such a hard time." Sydney muttered as she thought about how many times she went against Rayna's decisions. "Is there any way we can get a hold of her?" Ashley wondered. "No. Except for her family, she will be in total isolation for the duration of her training." Tiffany told them. "So I guess you're in charge…" Jasmine noted. "Yeah…" Tiffany answered. "Then find out why we aren't being told about anything about that meeting they had yesterday." Sydney demanded, wanting to know why they were left out of the emergency meeting of the senshi.

"Get up." Makata ordered as he stood over an exhausted Crystal Moon. "I…need…a…Break!" she gasped out as she pulled herself up. Makata looked at his watch. "We've only been at this for three hours. This is nothing compared to what you'll be up against." he sharply warned as he came at her again. 'How in hell will I survive seven months of this!' Rayna thought as she blocked the incoming attack.

"Is all this necessary? I mean it will be Areona and Makata's team that will do most of the work from what you told us. Won't it?" Chelsea asked as she watched the two train. "This will help her in more ways than one. She'll learn a lot from him." Millennium commented. "You better not be holding anything else back from us." she warned, remembering what she and the other senior senshi learned at the meeting.

"So it really is true." Madelyn said as she gazed fondly at the pendant her mother was holding. "Who'd have thought such a thing possible. It's almost just as impossible to believe that because of these Aeons the entire world could be destroyed." she added while her mother remained silent. "I don't think I can do this." Hotaru sighed. "Millennium said that to reduce the chances of this thing coming to Earth we should destroy as many Aeon crystals as we can find." Madelyn reminded her mother. "I can't. It's still Alexander. It's still my son." Hotaru pointed out as she went to place the pendant back into its box only to be stopped by Madelyn. "You know yourself that if it meant saving the lives of so many, Alexander would tell you to do it." Madelyn countered, "If you don't…I will. He was your son but my brother. I won't let him be used by this creature. I promised him I would never let anything bad happen to him again." Madelyn finished as she took the pendant from Hotaru.

Troubled by what she learned at the meeting, Annika decided to talk to her mother about what was to be done. She was surprised to find the door to her mother's quarters open. Entering, she headed for the shrine room hoping to find her mother there only to find the shrine empty and the pendant that was suspended in the flames of the shrine's fire was missing. "She wouldn't." she whispered as she pulled out her communicator to try to find out where her mother was only to get no response.

"Looks like we both made the same decision." Raye mentioned as she was joined by Madelyn outside in a secluded area of the palace grounds. "I promised him." Madelyn said rather downcast. "It's for the best so the faster we do this the better off we'll be." Raye tried to reassure herself that she was doing the right thing. Raye was the first to pick up the hammer to shatter her pendant. "Don't…you…dare!" a threat came from behind the two women. Annika quickly moved in and snatched the two pendants up to prevent them from being destroyed. "How could you two even think of doing such a thing?" Annika demanded an answer from them both. "Give those back!" Madelyn demanded, reaching for the pendants. "I can't let you two do this! If this new threat is as strong as what we've been told don't you think that these Aeons would give us a better chance of killing this thing?" Annika insisted. "She's right. We don't know anything about these Aeons and I for one don't believe everything Millennium tells us." Hotaru added coming up to them.

Several days later…

Crystal Moon fell to the floor screaming in pain as Makata's last kick broke her right leg. "How dare you waste my time like this!" Makata growled as he stood over her once again. "Get up." he demanded as he pulled her to her feet. The unbearable pain of jagged bone tearing into nerve and muscle sent her down again screaming. "You think this hurts?" he asked her as he pulled her up again, this time holding her, forcing her to stand. "You haven't even begun to understand what pain is." he said in a low tone as he kicked her in her right leg again. But before she even had time to open her mouth and scream, Makata quickly drove a kick to her left knee causing it to bend backwards. It only took a few seconds for the pain to overwhelm Crystal Moon as she fell unconscious. "That's enough for today." Millennium said putting an end to it. Makata just gave him and Crystal Moon a look of disgust and let her fall to the floor. "I'll take care of her." Areona offered and carried Rayna back to her room.

Rayna came to several hours later to find herself in bed. "How did I…my legs!" she remembered as she sprung up. "The pain is gone?" she asked herself wondering what had happened. "Hey! You're awake!" a young voice yipped as a playful puppy pounced on her lap. "Harbinger let her rest." Areona scolded the German Sheppard pup lightly as she picked him up. "What happened? Was that an illusion too?" Rayna asked, referring to her broken legs. "No. That was real but we managed to heal them. Can you stand?" Areona asked as Rayna tried to get up. Although she could stand, she wished she couldn't so she could get out of this training. They were joined my Makata.

"Good, you're up." Makata noted from the doorway. Rayna instantly crossed the room to where he was. "I'm supposed to be getting trained, not tortured!" she screamed at him. All he did was laugh. "Get used to it. Do you think an enemy will take pity on you should such a thing happen in battle? You need to learn to channel your pain into energy. Not only that but use your injuries to your advantage. You are strongest when your opponent thinks you are at your weakest. You will learn to take advantage of their arrogance, if not then you will die." he explained, "Rest up. You'll need it for tomorrow." he warned as he walked away. "What does he want from me?" Rayna asked. "He wants to make sure you are ready and that you are the one." Areona said as she left with the puppy in her arms. 'The one?' Rayna thought.

"Tell me this is a bad joke." Loki scoffed as he, Gemma and Kisaragi looked down at their new trainers. "I can assure you we are more capable than we look." Dischord assured them. "The only thing you'd be capable of is giving us rabies." Loki stated insultingly. "Can I hurt him? Pleeeeeaaase!" Malice begged. "For five minutes then we get to work." Dischord granted. "This is going to be sweet." Malice snarled as he charged after Loki. "So what's first?" Gemma asked as Kisaragi watched in disbelief as Malice mauled Loki.

"So while everyone else gets ready to fight this 'Sin' thing. We get stuck with another stupid gopher job." Crystal Saturn griped. "Like it or not this is what we've been assigned. This is just as important a job. If we can gather all of these Aeon crystals from around the world then maybe we can use them to fight." Crystal Venus told the group as she handed out a small sensor device Snow created to detect the Aeon Crystals to each of the Crystal Scouts. "These will help us find these Aeons. We don't have a lot of time so we'll have to split up. There's sixteen in all including the two we have so far so that leaves fourteen. Here's where we will be going." Crystal Venus finished as she handed out the location information. "I suggest you start packing. We leave tomorrow morning." Crystal Venus said as she dismissed them.

"They're doing what?" Millennium asked in wide-eyed surprise. "They think they can use them to fight." Dischord reported. "Well…it will be easier to destroy them if they are all in one place. Let me know when they've gathered them all. We'll destroy them then." he figured. As Dischord left, Makata showed up. "Well…that's a bit drastic don't you think?". "Just make sure you find it first. It's a damn homing signal to Sin. Six armadas have already gone down to it. Find it, get it off the planet and head to the Dead System like always." Millennium flatly told him. "Don't worry. I'll find it." Makata assured and left. 'I'll find it alright. But this time we do things my way.' he angrily thought as he went back to training Rayna, stopping to make a quick phone call.

Several days later…

"So will you do it?" Neo Queen Serenity asked as the remaining members of M.I.B. considered her proposal. "Well you put us on the spot with us being retired and all but…" Kisaragi started. "That's funny you should ask us this we were told…" Loki brought up, only to get a heel stomp from Kisaragi. "OOWW!" Loki squealed as he slumped to the floor holding his foot. "And the reason for that?" Sailor Uranus questioned, "Because he's Loki." Kisaragi simply replied. "Make it an even billion and we'll do it!" she reported. "$750 million, OUR final offer." King Endymion put to the mercenary group. "$800 million and the Ensyrosian!" Kisaragi countered only to have Gemma whisper a word of caution in her ear. "I suppose we'll do it for $750 million then." she muttered in defeat as the three left the conference room.

"You almost broke my foot!" Loki growled once they were outside. "Besides, aren't we supposed to steal them so they can't be destroyed?" Loki added, reminding them of Makata's order. "He IS paying us after all." Gemma pointed out. "Steal. Protect. It's the same thing right? Neither has to know…and we clean up in the process!" Kisaragi sang, thinking about the money they were about to make. "If we live long enough." Gemma sighed as they headed off to complete both contracts.

"Damn it!" Crystal Moon screamed in frustration as the simulation shut down. "Do it again." was Makata's only comment as the simulation started over again. "What's the point of this! It's a no win situation!" Crystal Moon yelled at him outraged that this was the seventy-ninth time she had gone through the drill. Makata paused the program and glared at her, "It is a very winnable situation. You'll keep going through it until you have no choice." he told her. "No choice? The only thing I haven't done so far is…" she fell silent as she realized what the purpose of the program was. "You've known the answer all along. All you have to do is give the order." he told her. "They're my friends! I can't do that! How can explain it to their families?" she demanded. "They are soldiers first. Since becoming sailor scouts you and they knew from the beginning that you all would one day have to die. As leader it's your duty to tell your team what to do and where to go…even if it means sending them to their grave. This is something a leader must accept and carry out with out hesitation." Makata coldly explained.

"Tell me…In Areona's illusion, why did you push the other senshi so hard to let you and the other Crystal Scouts deal with me and my team on your own?" he asked her. "To prove that we were capable of handling anything that threatened the planet. That we are just as good as the rest of the senshi divisions!" she answered back instantly. "So you think your arrogance and pride alone were enough to grant a victory? To compensate for a lack of leadership and poor training? Let's be honest…The Crystal Scouts are mostly here for show and PR that's why none of the important missions or decisions are put to you. None of you are willing to sacrifice yourselves for anything." he stated. Crystal Moon's temper started to build but kept quiet as she agreed silently with what he said. "Here's your chance…prove that you can be more than just a group of wannabe heroes. Do it." he whispered in her ear as the program started again.

Two hours later…

Rayna stood silently in the darkened room after the simulation shut down. "That by far was the hardest thing you've done to date and completes your training. The mission was a success. How do you feel?" Makata said coming up to her. "How do I…feel?" Rayna choked as she glared at him. "You should be happy. Everything went as you ordered, the enemy was defeated and the lives of everyone on the planet are saved." he noted. "At the cost of the Crystal Scouts…my friend's lives!" she half cried. "They're not your friends. That is a dangerous classification to give them. They are nothing more than tools for you to use. Calling them 'friends' weakens both them and you. Being in a position of leadership you must learn that the needs of the few are nothing compared to the needs of the many." Makata sharply warned his student.

"I think you got the wrong person. I'm not strong enough for this. I can't do this." she admitted only to be laughed at. "You sound so much like me…a hundred and twenty thousand years ago." he laughed. Rayna looked at him wide-eyed. "I felt the same way then as you do now. I thought I removed such feelings from myself since then but over the course of my fight with the Sin, I found it harder and harder to do. Every twenty-thousand years train a team to fight to the death and kill the Sin, save the universe, no big deal right?" he explained. "I've never once felt good about it. In fact it makes me sick. But here I am again with another team, ready to fight. And if I can't get you to realize what you are capable of then both my team and yours will fight and die, killing the Sin in the process, and the whole thing just starts over again." he sighed and walked away. "Wait! I don't understand!" Rayna called out as she ran off into the darkness after him. "Then follow me and you will."

--Next: "Uh…Kisaragi? What Does The 'G' Stand For?"--


	5. Kisaragi? What does the 'G' Stand for?

M.I.B. And One G By – Ravyn Knyght

--"Uh…Kisaragi? What Does The 'G' Stand For?"—

She kept running in the direction of his voice until a large creature appeared before her. "What is this?" she asked, back stepping so she could see it in its entirety. "This is a Sin. This is what we are up against. This is what the Psypaths unleashed on our universe." Makata informed her as he walked back to her.

"Once upon a time…when the Psypaths ruled everything in known space and declared themselves gods, they searched for a place that was worthy of them. They found a thing called 'Fluidic Space'. It wasn't long after entering this new realm that they found out those that lived there were nothing compared to the dominant species, The Sin. Seeing the Psypaths gave the other races hope that the Sin could be defeated. But…after numerous failed battles with the Sin and thousands of Psypaths slaughtered, the Psypaths were driven out of Fluidic Space never to return." Makata recited.

"But aren't the Psypaths supposed to be immortal?" Rayna spoke, remembering what she knew of the Psypaths. "They are…In this space, they are the most advanced species ever to exist. But in Fluidic Space, the Sin was far superior to them in every way. With their withdrawal, the other races were again left with the problem of surviving on their own. Unfortunately, the portal gate in Fluidic Space wasn't destroyed like it's counterpart in our space. The other races managed to disable the self-destruct module so they could flee here as well. Thousands of Sin came through and numerous galaxies were devastated." Makata continued his history lesson.

"So how were the Sin stopped? I mean there's none here now right?" Rayna asked. Makata thought for a few moments before answering. "The Psypaths took what they learned from their encounters in Fluidic Space and devised a way to defeat the Sin." he answered. "And that was?" Rayna insisted he continue. "Millennium. They created him as the ultimate weapon to destroy the Sin. He did just that. But once the Sin were destroyed, he 'malfunctioned' and turned on his creators destroying them as well." he finished.

"Back to that 'gate' thing. Why didn't the Psypaths destroy it? Why didn't Millennium destroy it?" Rayna then asked, inciting a laugh from Makata. "The other species took the remaining gate and protected it. It was their only escape from the Sin. In disabling the self-destruct module, they damaged it. Unable to understand the Psypath technology they couldn't repair it. So every twenty-thousand years the gate activates for a period of a few minutes. Enough for a few hundred Sin to come through and a stasis fleet to come through. Although the Sin had long since driven the vast majority of every race in their space to cryo-stasis, the remaining races devised a way to draw the Sin away from them during stasis fleet transport. There is an outpost that produces and sends a lure through the gate and the Sin follow it to keep them from attacking the stasis fleet. Six days ago it was tracked to this planet. It's up to you and me to find it and get it to the Dead System before the Sin get here. Once in the Dead System it's up to the selected few to take out the Sin. That's where we change things…There's a certain theory I've speculated about for a long time. If I'm right it could free my home from the Sin forever."

Rayna was about to ask another question when they were interrupted. "We got a problem. The gate activated again and is staying open." Millennium said as he joined them. "How is that possible? Is it the doing of the Fluidic Space races?" Rayna asked, Millennium glared at her then at Makata. "Yes. Not only have they repaired the existing gate but they built a second gate and sent it through. If they can reproduce Psypath technology then they can make thousands of them." Millennium reported.

"Then it's hopeless!" Rayna gasped, Millennium shook his head. "No. There is another option. I came up with it a long time ago but wasn't allowed to implement it." he said glaring at Makata. "Then why don't we do it already?" she demanded. "I will not murder my own people! The others will not allow it either!" Makata warned. "I told you, you owe me." Millennium added his own warning. "Whether you like it or not we now have no choice but to destroy Fluidic Space and everything in it." Millennium continued, "I'll be asking Queen Serenity to prepare the Earth forces fleet to carry out the mission. I'm leaving now to put together a team to build a twenty-five hundred terra-ton nova cobalt warhead. This is the perfect time. We'll use their own gate against them." he finished explaining his plan. "You're going to destroy a whole universe?" Rayna gasped at his intentions. "You murderous bastard! You'd destroy so many just to cover your own ass? I won't let you!" Makata screamed and tackled him to the floor and started to strangle him.

Quickly clearing him off, Millennium got back to his feet and lunged at Makata. "I'm still more then you could ever handle!" he growled. "Fight all you want but there's no other way now! You and the others fled here to be rid of the Sin! If we don't do this then this universe is going to be the same as yours! If you cared so much for Fluidic Space then you'd have never left it." Millennium flatly told him. Rayna just stood in silence listening to everything being said. "This conversation is over with!" Millennium finished as he got off of Makata and left. "Damn it…" Makata whispered in defeat then looked to Rayna as a new idea came to his mind. "There's still time! We have to get to that gate before he does!" he said jumping up and pulling Rayna with him.

At the palace…

"You just love keeping everyone in the dark about things don't you?" Sailor Uranus asked as she and the rest of the council glared at Millennium. "I told you what it is I need. I can do this with or without your consent." he coldly pointed out. "We will not help you destroy an entire universe!" King Endymion declared, Millennium glared back at them all. "Then you leave me no choice. I won't let the Sin destroy this universe!" he warned and left. Soon after he left, reports started coming in. "Our entire deep space fleet? But that's two-hundred and fifty ships and over eighty-thousand personnel?" Sailor Venus said confused. "We are also missing several top weapons developers and physicists from around the world. Snow was one of them." Cosmic Venus reported. "He's very adamant about this." Sailor Mercury commented, trying not to worry about the disappearance of her son. "So how do we stop the unstoppable?" Elysian Jupiter asked.

Somewhere over the Pacific ocean…

"What's a Winnipeg?" Sydney asked as she looked at her PDA that was showing the location of the Aeon crystals. "What ever it is, that's where we'll find two of these Aeon things." Gisselle said half asleep as she tried to get comfortable in her seat. "When are we going to land anyway?" she complained while squirming around. "About three hours from now." Sydney sighed looking at her watch.

"Oh I'll have three of these, six of those and…" the stewardess gawked in awe at the large order Kisaragi was making. "Um…Miss…I'm sorry but we're not a restaurant, there are other passengers we have to serve." she cautioned to Kisaragi's displeasure. "Some first class this is…" she muttered and checked up on her team's status. "Hey, Gemma! How's it?" asked as he answered his cell phone. "Pretty good. I already got three. I just heard from Loki. He managed to get one up on the Crystal Scouts and is following them to their second objective." Gemma reported as he pocketed the three crystals. "Cool! The plane won't be landing for a few hours yet. I'll check in with you later." she replied, glad to hear that her team was doing so well. "One more thing…" Gemma started as he pulled out their new business cards, "…What does the 'G' stand for on our cards?" he asked causing Kisaragi to falter for a moment. "It's so obvious I can't believe you have to ask!" she said rolling her eyes. "Gotta go! In flight movie is starting!" and quickly hung up leaving Gemma to wonder.

Just as she hung up her phone rang, this time it was Loki reporting in. "Hey! Heard you've been busy! How are things looking?" she asked, as Loki was closely following Jasmine and Tiffany. "Fantastic!" Loki remarked in a tone that made Kisaragi glare at him through her phone. "I'm talking about the Aeon crystals, not the skirts you're chasing!" she coldly sneered, inciting a retort from her sub-ordinate. 'That's what I get for not paying attention at meetings…' Loki thought as he tried to remember just how exactly Kisaragi managed to become the team leader. "Well just get that other crystal!" she demanded. "Oh…One more thing…What's with the 'G' on our business cards?" he asked, freezing her in her place. "You would have known if you paid attention at the meeting!" she snapped back with a great recovery. 'No way am I going to admit it was a typo when I went to re-register the business name and when I realized it the name M.I.B. was snatched up by someone else!' she uttered to herself as she hung up.

After the plane landed, Kisaragi and the Crystal Scouts went in separate directions. Upon renting a car, Kisaragi drove into the city to track down the location of an Aeon crystal. She followed her locater until it brought her to an orphanage. "Brings back memories." she said to herself as she went in.

Flash Back

"Hey! Is that the new kid?" a young girl asked as she came up to some of the other children. "Yeah but he's no fun! He won't talk, he won't play with us and he freaks out if anyone goes near him." one of the older boys said. "Let's just ignore him. He's weird!" another declared as they walked off. The young girl stayed though and decided that she would try to make friends with him and walked over to his bed bunk.

"Hi! I'm Kisaragi! What's your name?" she cheerfully introduced herself only to have the younger boy shy away from her. "Yeah I was like that too when I first came here. This is a pretty good place. You'll love it here! The social workers are nice, there's all kinds of games and toys to play with and on Saturday's they takes us to movies!" she tried to ease the little boys fears. "I see you've made a friend already." a young woman said coming in to the room with an older man. "I was just telling him how great this place is!" she happily reported. "That's very nice of you! But I have to take him to see Dr. Korahi now. You two can play later, okay?" the social worker praised the little girl. "Oh. Okay. Well I'll see you around!" she waved and started to leave the room.

"Loki." the young boy whispered stopping Kisaragi and surprising the social worker. "My name's Loki." he said a little louder. Kisaragi smiled at him. "Well I'll see you later Loki!" she waved and ran off. "Six months and seven specialists couldn't get him to say one word. A few minutes with that girl and that's the most anyone has been able to get him to say." Dr. Kohari noted in amazement. "I think for the time being I'd like to see the two of them kept together. I think it might benefit his recovery." the psychologist informed the social worker. "I'll change the room assignments immediately." she complied.

End Flash Back

"Well it's not every day we get someone who comes in off the street and makes this kind of donation. You have ours and the children's most sincerest thanks." the orphanage manager expressed her extreme gratitude for Kisaragi's large contribution. "Would it be to much to ask to have a tour of the orphanage?" Kisaragi asked hoping that this would give her a reason to freely search the area. "That shouldn't be a problem." she assured and made arrangements.

'There it is!' she smiled as her locator sounded off the Aeon crystal's location. She stopped at the room of a young girl. "This is one of our newest children. She's still a little confused and scared." the social worker said. "What happened?" Kisaragi asked. "She was the only survivor of a house fire. We weren't able to find any relatives." the man recalled the case file. Kisaragi noticed that the little girl was fixated on her pendant that held the Aeon crystal and didn't notice the older woman sit down on the bed next to her.

"Hi! What's your name?" Kisaragi asked only to get no response. "That's a real pretty necklace." Kisaragi complimented as she tried to take hold of it to examine it closer. "No!" the little girl screamed, clutching it tighter. "I just wanted to look at it sweetie. I'm not going to take it from you." the sorceress promised. "My mommy gave it to me. She told me don't let anything happen to it." the little girl whispered as she started to cry. 'What do I do? I need that crystal…' Kisaragi thought as she comforted the small child. "Well then I guess you better make sure you take good care of it then." she told the little girl as she decided that one crystal wouldn't make a difference. Just then an all too familiar ring came on her cell phone. "Loki what trouble are you in now!" she sighed in an angry whisper as she got up and went into the hallway. To her surprise it wasn't Loki on the other end but the computer from their ship.

The automated message gave Loki's last known position and his current life stats. "What the hell happened!" she muttered as she ordered the ship to pick her up. "Better get some help here…" as she called Gemma.

Elsewhere…

"You just had to pick the red one didn't you?" Gisselle griped. "How was I supposed to know it was going to break down?" Sydney shot back as they started down the long uninhabited road in the direction their PDA locator pointed them. "This is just great. No cell phone reception. No houses…" Gisselle complained as she stopped to look up at the overcast skies upon feeling something, "And now we got rain!". "Okay! That does it!" Sydney screamed as she threw her jacket to the ground and was ready to take a swing at Gisselle when she saw something in the distance. "Hey I see a truck!" she excitedly reported as Gisselle turned to see it. "Haven't you seen the movies? The only people that travel empty country back-roads are psycho killers looking for teen-aged victims like us." Gisselle eerily pointed out as the truck got closer. "You are so weird." Sydney said while glaring at her. 'She's got a point.' she thought in agreement.

"Howdy y'all! You gals lost or somethin'?" the driver asked upon being flagged down. "Howdy? Y'all? Gals?" Sydney questioned in a whisper as Gisselle eyed the contents of the pick-up truck and commented in Japanese. "Alright! We got hay bails!" she said in mock excitement while giving a big thumbs up to her team mate. "Just toss your stuff in back and I'll give y'all a lift into town." the young man offered. "Could you take us in this direction instead?" Gisselle asked as Sydney groaned at her poor English. "You sound almost as bad as him!" she grumbled in Japanese as they got in. 'And away we go with an aw hyuck and a yee haw and a hootenanny in a hay bail.' Sydney sighed to herself.

An airport in Siberia…

"Everyone else gets to go somewhere warm but we get stuck with the cold places." Lily grumbled as she zipped up her jacket. "Well at least we won't have to go that far. The locator says the Aeon crystal is only fifty miles from here." Melody pointed out as they waited for their ride to show up. "Besides it's going to be much colder in Antarctica." she added to Lily's displeasure.

Same time in Antarctica…

After following his locator, Gemma was now standing over the exact location of the Aeon crystal. "That's pretty deep." he commented as he read the depth of the crystal. "Looks like there's some kind of temple down there…" as he took out his PDA and linked up with M.I.B's ship in orbit while walking away from the co-ordinates he entered into the ship's weapons systems. Within a few seconds a powerful laser bored a hole down into the ice. Just as he was about to start down the ice tunnel his cell phone rang. "The Wind Drake is right above me. Have it pick me up first." Gemma told Kisaragi as he hung up. "What did that kid do this time…" Gemma wondered as he was teleported aboard by the Wind Drake.

Somewhere in the Amazon rain forests…

"You should have let me blast it!" Crystal Mars muttered as she glared at the primate that was now scaling a large tree. "Yeah and burn down the forest in the process! Now how do we get it down from there?" Crystal Neptune wondered as she watched the monkey stare in wonderment at his newfound treasure. "Leave that to me!" Crystal Mars said as she fired a rock up at the monkey, startling it into dropping the crystal. "Problem solved!" Crystal Mars said, tossing the pale blue crystal to her partner. As soon as she caught it, Crystal Neptune fell unconscious as Crystal Mars ran to catch her.

Chasity came to, finding herself under water. 'Where am I?' she wondered as she looked around only to see dark ocean depths surrounding her on all sides. After a few minutes of swimming upwards in an attempt to reach the surface, she couldn't hold her breath any longer as her lungs burned. To her surprise as she breathed out something told her it was safe to breathe. "Who are you?" a voice asked her. Chasity swam around trying to see where the voice came from.

She strained her eyes to stare into the murky distance to see a large creature swimming towards her. "Are you of my own?" the voice asked again, Chasity figured it was the creature talking to her. "Who are you? What do you mean 'of your own?'" Chasity asked, surprising herself again as she realized she was now talking under water. "They're coming again. This time they will not stop. I will not lose anymore of my own to them. All that I am is yours…to protect this world…in memory of our home world…Atlantian." the creature spoke as its speed picked up and it charged towards her. "What?" Chasity asked astonished as a bright flash blinded her, bringing her back to find herself in Crystal Mars's arms.

"What happened?" she asked as she helped Chasity to her feet. "I…I'm not sure." she admitted, still trying to make sense of what just occurred. "That crystal just disappeared as soon as you caught it." Ashley explained as she transformed back. "I can't really explain it but I think there's a connection between these Aeons and us the Crystal Scouts. We'd better hurry and get the others. I think we'll have a better idea of what's going on when we do." Chasity said as they headed off to the location of the next Aeon crystal.

Unknown location in countryside of France…

"Are you sure it's coming from there?" Tiffany asked uneasily as she stared into the darkness of an abandoned mine shaft. "It's about fifteen hundred feet in." Jasmine confirmed. "Doesn't look very safe. Not much room either…" Tiffany noted the tight confines shoddy rafters. Jasmine knew Tiffany still had a fear of dark confined spaces, "You can wait here. I'm sure it won't take me that long to get it." Jasmine assured as she started in. "Just keep an eye out for M.I.B. They already have the other one that was here so they can't be too far off." she warned Tiffany.

An hour later…

"Its not that bad…" Tiffany whispered lowly as she ventured down the dark tunnel to find out why Jasmine was taking so long. Keeping a hand on the wall, with the only light coming from her PDA as she followed its directions. "Need a light?" a voice asked as a bright light shone from behind her, causing Tiffany to scream and drop her PDA, breaking it. She turned around to where a bright light and voice were coming from to see Loki smiling at her. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" he asked as she regained her composure. "Why are you following me?" she angrily questioned as she transformed and attacked, "Venus Celestial Flare!" "Jeez! Chill out, chick!" Loki cried as he barely dodged the attack. "Chick?" Crystal Venus asked as her eye twitched in agitation. "Hey I just wanted to know what was taking your friend so long, that's all!" Loki quickly back peddled trying to avoid a fight. Crystal Venus gave an angry huff then looked down the darkened passageway. "I'd like to know too." she murmured. "Well let's get going! Any longer in this place and I'm gonna go crazy crackers!" Loki insisted as he hooked her arm in his and headed down the tunnel.

After walking a short distance, the two came across a chasm. "Its not that far a jump…" Loki calculated and quickly jumped the small pit. Crystal Venus looked at the distance uncertainly for a few moments. "It's only a few feet. Don't look into it just look at me." Loki encouraged as Crystal Venus worked up her nerve. A faint noise stopped her just as she was about to jump. "Hey! Who's up there?" a voice called up from the pit. "Jasmine?" Crystal Venus shouted down the hole to get an instant reply. "Hey Tiff! Find a rope or something to get me out of here!" Jasmine shouted up. "I suppose you don't have anything on you?" she asked the youngest member of M.I.B.

"Well?" she asked demandingly but Loki was preoccupied with something else. "You here that?" he asked as Crystal Venus listened for a few moments. "I think that attack of yours—!" but couldn't finish his thought as the ground beneath them collapsed as the mineshaft began to cave in.

After a few minutes Loki came to and took out his flashlight to see where he ended up. "That's…not good!" Loki panicked as he looked over to Jasmine and Crystal Venus who were unconscious and severely injured by the rock that fell down with them. Ignoring his own injuries, he quickly crawled over to them and began to clear off some of the debris from on top of them. 'If this isn't an emergency I don't know what is!' he thought as he pulled out a small case from his jacket pocket. "Damn it!" he growled when he discovered that all but two vials were destroyed. "Well that narrows it down…" he angrily sighed as he hurriedly injected the contents of the two vials into Jasmine and Crystal Venus.

Within a few minutes the two girls had regained consciousness. "Ugh! What happened?" Jasmine moaned as she sat up. "Slight cave in…but I think the worst of it is over." Loki groaned as he tried to stand up. "I thought we were history." Tiffany recalled the last thing she remembered then noticed the blood stains on both her and Jasmine and started to panic. "Calm down would you?" Loki demanded. "You're using up to much oxygen!" he sharply warned as he thought they might still be walled in. "What happened to us?" Jasmine asked as Loki thought about what to do next while fighting the pain of his own wounds. "I used a recovery serum on both of you. Guaranteed to repair any physical damage and reverse any poison. Now let's figure a way out of here." he told them. "But what about yourself? Why didn't you use any of it?" Crystal Venus said as she noticed his own injuries. "Judgment call…it was part of my contract…because I wasn't about to let two cute girls die. Not here, not like this." he thought back. "Looks like we'll have to climb." he noted as he figured out the best way to do it.

Jasmine was the first one to attempt the climb as Crystal Venus waited with Loki. "So how are you going to get out of here? You can't climb with that broken arm." she noted as she helped him up. "Don't worry about me. Just worry about what else could happen. Just getting out of the pit is one thing. There could be multiple cave in's up there." he pointed out. "Okay! I'm up!" Jasmine called down. "How's it look?" Crystal Venus yelled up. "Everything seems alright. I think the way is clear." she replied as she held the flashlight over the edge to give the two some light. "Okay you're next." Loki said and Crystal Venus started climbing. "Wait. Take this with you." he said as he gave her the Aeon crystal he took from them earlier. "These too." handing her a dagger, gloves and a ball of what looked like metal string. "Put those gloves on before you handle the symyx twine. Be careful. One wrong move with that twine and you could amputate something." he strongly warned.

Crystal Venus listened as he explained what to do and she quickly set to work on it as soon as she was clear of the hole. "You sure we should help him?" Jasmine questioned thinking Loki might be planning something. "He could have let us die and saved himself. Plus he gave back what he stole from us. We owe him a way out of here at least." Tiffany pointed out as she prepared the twine and drove the dagger into the ground. "Okay. That about does it. Let's go." she said as she carefully attached the gloves to the other end of the razor sharp string and tossed them down to Loki.

"Daylight!" Tiffany breathed out in a huge sigh of relief as the two cleared the mineshaft. "Let's get out of here before he catches up with us." Jasmine said as she was holding the two crystals. As they were about to leave a muffled rumbling caught their attention as another cave in took place that collapsed the tunnel and sealed the entrance.

--Next: Death Of A God--


	6. Death of a God

M.I.B. and One G By – Ravyn Knyght

--Death Of A God—

En route to portal gate…

"What's taking so long?" Millennium demanded as Snow gave the progress report on the development of the bomb. "You do realize how unstable all of the components are under the best of circumstances, don't you? It's a miracle we've progressed this much under these conditions!" the Ensyrosian pointed out angrily. "It can't be helped. We are the only fleet in the area. It will be some time before the Elysian, Ensyrosian and Drahkos fleets meet up with us. Until then we take out any Sin we come across." Millennium reminded him. "Those are some impressive weapon systems you equipped the fleet with. You've been planning for this so why not have the bomb built ahead of time too?" Snow pointed out. Millennium was about to answer when the ship took another jolt. "Looks like we found another herd of Sin." Millennium sighed, 'We haven't seen the worst of it yet.'

"Order the Cerberus and the Agamemnon to the front so the Yamato will have some cover. Deploy cutter fighter wings two, nine and twelve to assist the Kanaka in retrieving the escape pods from the Omaha. Deploy dark armour fighter wings one through four to draw the Sin Spawn away." Commander Kaioh ordered as he turned to his communications officer. "Raise the other fleets again and tell them to get their asses in gear! We can't keep this up on our own!" he shouted as he turned back to check the status of the battle.

Back on Earth…

"So this small, little crystal is what the Sin are after?" Rayna questioned as she tried to figure out how the creatures could find something so small in such a large universe. "They'd destroy anything in their way to get it." Makata said as they made their way back up from the ravine. Just then his cell phone rang and relayed the same message Kisaragi received. "Looks like Loki is in trouble." he noted as he tried to redirect the Wind Drake. "What's wrong?" Rayna asked upon seeing the curious look on his face. "Looks like we won't be using the Wind Drake. Kisaragi already changed the commands." Makata said while giving a slight chuckle. "So what do we do? How are we supposed to get this crystal off of the planet?" Rayna wondered allowed as to what their next step would be.

After a few moments thought, Makata had a solution. "I guess its only fitting to go back to Fluidic Space the same way." he reasoned as he used his cell phone to contact another ship. "Dfu du dnyhcbund." Within a few seconds the two were teleported aboard an orbiting ship. "Okay! Slow down! Where are we and what were you ranting about just a second ago?" Rayna demanded as she followed Makata through the ship hallways. "We're onboard the Adanhym Ruba. The ship both myself and my people came to this universe on one hundred and twenty thousand years ago." he said as they came onto the bridge. "Lusbidan: Creb cdydic." Makata called, as all terminal displays became active and began running diagnostics. 'I don't think I recognize that language. What is it?' Rayna wondered as Makata went about confirming several readouts. "Uh…what language are you speaking?" Rayna interrupted, causing Makata to pause for a moment. "Oh…Sorry about that. The ship's computer only understands Al Bhed, my native language." he explained as he continued to confirm commands.

"Where are we going? Fluidic Space?" Rayna asked as she felt the ship's engines start up. "We'll make a few stops before we leave. First to check up with my team in France then to Japan." he mentioned as the ship quickly made its way to its first location. "You're worried about him, Loki I mean, aren't you?" Rayna said coming up to him. "I just hope we get there in time to help. I promised Kisaragi after all that nothing would ever happen to him." Makata recalled as they were approaching Loki's location. "There he is." Makata noted as he ordered the ship to transport him directly to the med lab. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He said as the ship transported him to the surface.

"Damn it! I lost his signal!" Gemma said as he and Kisaragi showed up. "What happened?" Kisaragi screamed at the two Crystal Scouts as Gemma got to work on trying to locate their partner. "There was a cave in…he didn't make it out." Tiffany said, still staring at the sealed off mine entrance. They were all interrupted by Makata'a arrival.

A sudden sense of relief rushed through Kisaragi as she ran up to him and blurted out everything she knew up until now. "Loki is not dead yet. He's aboard my ship, but I can't make any promises, as his wounds are severe. Just how did he get tangled up in symyx twine and why didn't he use his recovery serum?" he asked her as she looked to the Crystal Scouts. "Well it doesn't matter now. I'll do what I can for him but I'll need all the Aeon crystals you both have collected until now." he demanded as Gemma handed over the three he had.

"Yours too." he said turning to Jasmine and Tiffany who instantly refused. "We need them." Rayna added as the two looked at each other then reluctantly turned them over to Rayna. "Alright, let's go." he said only to be stopped by Kisaragi. "I want to see him…please." she demanded. "You still have a contract to finish so I suggest you get to it." Makata coldly reminded her of her obligation. "I need to know that he's going to be okay." she pleaded only to be reprimanded. "Enough! I didn't pay you to perform a deathwatch! Now gather the rest of those Aeon crystals or I'll have you for breach of contract." he snapped then left with Rayna.

"It wouldn't have hurt to let her see him before we left!" Rayna complained as soon as they were on board. "It's what they expect from me." Makata said as he went about preparing for their next stop. "Just a few minutes! We can't be in all that great a hurry!" Rayna added trying to get a response but met with silence as Makata gave the order to transport the two to the surface again. "We're going to need your part of the Silver Crystal." he said as they appeared in front of the Crystal Palace. She opened her mouth but closed it quickly and gave him an icy glare before heading off.

Fluidic Space…

"Cool! It actually worked! I'm SUCH a genius!" a young teen praised herself as she signaled the stasis fleet to get ready for departure as another woman just rolled her eyes at her friend's boasting. "Are the other ships computers tied into ours yet?" a third woman asked. "Everything's up and running and we are good to go!" a young man answered then added, "All Sin in the area have gone through. We have a clear path!"

"All right! Let's do it! Bringing jump engines online and activating gravi-line towing systems…all ships are in tow! C'mon Yunie give the word!" the energetic blonde cheered loudly. "Yeah…who knows how long this thing will hold up…Rikku built it after all." Payne dryly commented to get a raspberry in response. "Behave you two! Gippal, get us moving!" Yuna replied as they headed towards the gate.

Deep Space…

"Damn it! There's too many!" Commander Kaioh snarled as he reviewed the remains of his fleet. "It's not much farther! We are almost in range to launch!" Millennium encouraged as repair crews worked to extinguish several fires on the main bridge of the Excalibur. "We launch from here or we don't launch at all." Snow warned as he and Kota surveyed their remaining forces. "He's right…our engines our off line…we're venting oxygen…we're running on auxiliary power and the majority of our fleet has been torn apart. Give the order for all other remaining ships to retreat after they've rescued as many as they can." commander Kaioh instructed his communications officer.

"No! We have to get closer! We can't afford a misfire!" Millennium demanded only to be ignored. "Order all remaining personnel to evacuate. Once escape pods are clear cut power to life support on all decks except for the bridge and reroute power to forward shielding. On my mark deploy the warhead…Mark." Kota ordered as Snow activated the launch sequence. "This was our only chance! If its destroyed before it enters the portal then this universe will be the one to fall." Millennium warned as several Sin swarmed the ship.

As the warhead was launched a ship dropped out of hyperspace. "You damn bastard!" Makata screamed as he raced to catch up with the weapon. "Can we stop it?" Rayna asked as they approached the jump gate. "Stopping it from going through is easy…disarming it is going to be the challenge." he said as his ship's computer locked onto the warhead and transported it aboard. "Now it's up to the ship's computer to do the rest…if it can." he grumbled as they headed into the wormhole with the majority of Sin breaking away from the fleet and following them in.

"Wait! The Excalibur's in trouble! We have to help them!" Rayna pleaded to once again be ignored as they continued on. "There's nothing we can do for them now. They knew it was a suicide mission from the beginning." Makata told her as they entered the wormhole. "Turn this thing around and help them!" she yelled as a warning sensor went off. "Something's coming our way! It's the stasis fleet! The Sin following will attack them. That will give us some extra time." Makata noted as he adjusted his course to pass close by the stasis fleet but to his surprise the Sin stayed with them instead.

"AAAAAAAAAHH! We've got a Sin swarm coming our way!" Rikku panicked as the others got to their stations to prepare for a fight only to have the swarm pass them by without a second thought. "That was…strange." Gippal noted as he maintained weapons lock on the fast moving group. "Hey! I just ran that ship they were chasing! It was Al Bhed! What the heck are they doing going back?" Rikku remarked as they continued through. "Never mind that we have other problems. Sensors are picking up a large swarm of Sin on the other side attacking a large combat fleet. This is so weird…Some of the languages coming over their comm. systems are Elysian…Ensyrosian…Dhrakosian and even Guado!" Shinra reported.

"Think it's the other races showing up to help us or something else?" Payne asked, turning to Yuna. "Better to play it safe and extend the Ragnarok's barrier shields to cover the stasis fleet." she ordered. "We'll have to take most of our weapons systems off line to have enough power." Gippal cautioned her, "We'd be sitting ducks if anything got through." Yuna thought for a few moments, "Rikku. Tell Lu we are going to need her help on this one." "Aw! Why me? Lulu's great an' all but every time I have to give her bad news she gives me this really creepy one-eye super deluxe death glare!" the young Al Bhed girl complained as she slouched in her seat, dreading the task her friend gave her. Payne got up from her console, walked over to Rikku and whispered something that made the young girl bolt to the elevator. "Wow! What did you say to make her move like that?" Yuna asked. "I threatened to tell Lulu who the culprit was that gave her pet that make over." Payne smirked.

'Almost three million years…in a blink of an eye…I wonder what they're like now?' a silent figure pondered staring at the wormhole that was taking them to a new universe, then gave a depressed sigh as she watched her 'rescuer' bound into the ship's lounge. "There goes our peace and quiet little one." she mused to her pet moomba who instantly picked up on Rikku's energy and romped over to her, linking his paws in her hands as they danced around in a circle. "Happy to see you too little fella! Hey Lu! We got big problems!" Rikku blurted while still dancing the small creature around. Lulu just looked at the two and shook her head, "Bigger then when you lost that last set of data spheres of that show…what was it now?…Spira Idol?" she asked, the young girl nodding her head excessively, "Bigger!" she exclaimed letting go of the moomba and flinging her arms out wide. "It had better be this time." she said in annoyance as she took a seat at a table and took a sip of her drink. "When the need arises I will defend the stasis fleet." she promised then noticed that they had entered the new space. "Whoa! Check it out…" Rikku said in awe as she stared at the strange universe they were now in.

The moment was cut short when a ship wide announcement was made. "All crew report to their stations! We are under attack! Repeat…All crew report to their stations!" As Rikku rushed back to the bridge, Lulu stared out the window at the battle that was going on. "Hm? What's this strange feeling? There's something else out there…." she said quietly as her attention was brought to a heavily damaged ship.

Back on Earth…

"You sure she can help us?" Raye questioned as they pulled up to the old forest mansion. "It might be too late for us to stop him but if anyone can get through to him it will be his daughter." Mina reasoned as they approached the front door, which opened for them. "Well she knows we're here." Raye said as they walked into the main foyer. "Then she knows why we're here." Mina firmly stated as they made they're way to the study.

Upon entering they found Areona sitting on the couch attending to Malice while Dischord kept Harbinger occupied by the fireplace. Mina was about to speak when a look from the young Psypath halted her. A light whimper let the two know that something was wrong with the dog. Areona carefully got up and lead the two women out of the room. "I know why you're here and no I will not help you." she spoke in a tone that told them that the conversation was over. "If you let him do this…" Mina started only to invoke a sigh from the young girl. "This is the last thing my father will accomplish with his life. I don't think you realize how hard he has worked to undo all what the Psypaths have done. In destroying Fluidic Space, he will die knowing he has taken care of the last major threat to this universe." she explained then turned back to the study.

"You won't even save your own father's life? After he gave so much of it up to bring you back?" Raye asked, stopping Areona momentarily. "If I did it wouldn't matter. When he became mortal, he contracted a terminal illness. He doesn't even know what it is or how to stop it, the whole thing is very suspicious and the illness gets progressively worse with each day. He decided that he'd rather die doing something instead of waiting for death." Areona informed them softly then went back into the study leaving the two sailor scouts in mild shock at what they were told.

Fluidic Space…

'They're not attacking? Why?' Makata pondered as he set a course to take them to an ancient planet. "So where are we going?" Rayna asked, curious as to what they were to do now. "I'm taking you home." he simply stated to Rayna's surprise. "You mean we're leaving! But we just got here!" she exclaimed, her clueless expression broke through and incited a laugh from Makata. "This is going to take some explaining. Follow me." he said as he led her through the ships corridors until they reached a dark room.

Once they entered, a panoramic view of an ancient city filled the room causing Rayna to gasp. "I saw this place! It was in a recurring dream I had when I was a kid!" she exclaimed to Makata's delight. "I knew I was right…" he said quietly as he watched her walk about the room taking in the changing images. Rayna stopped with her mouth open when the city's people then appeared. "They look…like me?" she questioned then turned to Makata with a look that demanded he start talking.

Deep Space…

"It would be best for us to push through as fast as we can." Shinra pointed out as various images of severely damaged and destroyed ships flickered on the main view screen and numerous distress calls came over the comm. systems. "There's nothing we can do for them now." Payne noted as she saw the look in Yuna's eyes as she listened to the distress calls. "Here it comes…" Rikku sighed as she studied her cousin. "You're not serious…" Payne muttered now seeing the look Yuna was getting. "So much for an easy ride…" Gippal added as he waited for the order.

"Drop shields and get the weapon systems back on line. Send out a reply to all ships that we will assist them anyway we can. Gippal take out as many Sin as you can." she ordered then hit the intercom button. "Lulu to the bridge on the double! We'll need your help here." Yuna said to have a bright flash of light answer her call. "Was that quick enough?" she quipped then turned her attention to the view screen. "We'll start with that ship." she said pointing out the Excalibur. "Why that one?" Payne asked. "Because there's a Psypath onboard and he's not fairing to well." she answered then disappeared in a flash. "Another Psypath? Like Lulu? Cool!" Rikku exclaimed as Gippal provided support fire, clearing away some of the Sin that were attacking the ship.

On the Excalibur…

"I told you idiots to get on that escape pod!" Kota muttered as a communications officer tried to treat some of his wounds, "When you're stable enough to move Sir." the young girl responded. "Multiple hull breaches…failing life support…Sin spawn running around the ship freely…and now the main reactor is going critical." Snow compiled a mental check-list then aimed his gun at the opening bridge doors but lowered it when he saw it was Millennium. "I managed to reactivate internal defense systems for all the good they'll do but it should buy us some time." he reported as he helped the communications officer carry Kota to the escape pod only to stop when he sensed something. "It can't be…" he whispered then his hunch was confirmed when a bright flash got everyone's attention. "I'm sure you'll agree my way will be much faster." Lulu said as she teleported everyone back to the Ragnarok.

On the Ragnarok…

Both Snow and Millennium watched as the Excalibur's reactor core exploded while the remaining bridge crew rushed their commander to the med lab. Millennium then turned to Lulu and stared at her for a few moments. "I think you and I will have a lot to talk about but I'm afraid my time is short and there's still work to do." he said to her.

"Na kravill lowlin vallis!" Rikku said as she bounded up to Millennium. "I guess you are the one who built the jump gate." his conclusion based on the girl's mastery of the Psypath language. "Yup! Yup! Isn't it great?" she remarked, Millennium looked at it. "Yes it is an interesting shade of yellow. How about destroying both it and the other gate before more Sin come through." he demanded to the young girl's dismay. "No way! This gate stays until we get everyone out of Fluidic Space!" she said in defiance. "Well why don't we just shut it down for now?" Yuna offered as Rikku reluctantly agreed and went to her station and entered the shut down sequence.

"Uh…Rikku…any time now." Gippal said as his sensors picked up another Sin Swarm approaching the gate on the other side. "Yeah…about that…you see… the shut down code isn't exactly…working." she nervously reported to everyone's horror. Millennium quickly accessed the gate systems from Rikku's station and found the problem. "Some of the systems are fried and they'll have to be bypassed…manually." he reported. "Manually?" Rikku squeaked as she read the results of another scan that revealed the cause of the destroyed systems. "Looks like the Sin Spawn are really taking a liking to 'your' gate." Snow commented as he and Millennium reviewed what needed to be done. "Leave the remaining Sin to me." Lulu said as she left to eliminate any Sin still left in the area.

"So that's what has to be done." Millennium finished a report of repairs to be carried out. "Hey that reverse polarity wave worked wonders on that Sin Swarm that was coming through." Gippal said as he joined the meeting. "Now all we have to do is decide who's on the gate repair team." Yuna said looking around the room. "Myself and Snow will go but we will need four other people. Two to do the repairs and two to fight Sin Spawn." Millennium specified. "I'm just a kid." Shinra told everyone and ran off to his console. "We'll do the fighting." Payne and Yuna spoke up. "I guess that leaves me to be mister fix it." Gippal sighed. Then we need one more person for the repair crew." Payne counted as everyone's eyes fell on a whistling Al Bhed that was trying to casually stroll out of the room.

"Oh man I don't believe this! Why do I have to come along?" Rikku griped as both she and Millennium made their way through the access tubes of the gate structure, repairing systems as they went. "You built it, you fix it." Millennium said as he forced open an access door to be greeted by the teeth of a Sin Spawn on the other side. Quickly dodging the bite, Millennium slammed the access door shut cutting the creature in half. "Let's hope the others are having it just as easy as we are." he said jokingly while Rikku gave a sarcastic laugh.

"All our repairs are done. We'll meet you at the air dock." Snow reported as Rikku and Millennium made their way to the control room. "Same goes for us!" Gippal added. "Good. We're coming up to the control room now." Millennium answered back. "At least there's no creepy Sin Spawn here." Rikku sighed in relief as she scanned the room. "I can handle it from here. I'll activate the internal defenses to make sure you have a clear path back." Millennium told her as he activated the main computer. "More Sin on the way…I guess Makata disarmed the bomb." he muttered. "Bomb? What bomb?" Rikku asked. "The one we launched before you came through. It was on the ship you passed in the conduit." he told her as he confirmed some commands. "What were you going to do?" she demanded, now not paying attention to what he was doing. "Detonate a 2500 terra ton nova cobalt warhead in Fluidic Space…Great! I can access the other gate from here." he mindlessly admitted as he went about his tasks.

The young girl's jaw went slack as she realized what his intentions were. "You're completely insane! That would have turned Fluidic Space into an inferno!" she gasped as an audio message in Psypathic sounded and she quickly translated it. Realizing he used his confession to distract her, she franticly tried to access the controls only to find them locked out. "Turn off the self destruct!" she demanded only to have him grab hold of her and drag her to the door. "You and your friends don't have much time so I suggest you get going." he said as the door opened and the two were attacked by a Sin Spawn.

"GET OUT!" he screamed, forcing her into the hallway as he and the creature fought. "But…!" she started as a section of the ceiling gave way to several more Sin Spawn, catching Millennium off guard. The defense systems sealed the door leaving Rikku to watch in horror as the Sin Spawn swarmed the room.

At the air dock…

"What was that message?" Yuna wondered as she and the others waited. "When are undecipherable messages over an intercom ever a good thing?" Payne groaned as she took out her communicator. "Hey! Rikku! What did you do now? Rikku? Are you there?" Payne's instincts told her something was wrong. "I'm going to find them. The rest of you get on board." she told everyone as she headed to the main doors to find them locked. "Damn it!" she snapped as she and Gippal tried to force the door open. "Go now. Leave Rikku to me. The self-destruct sequence is in progress." Lulu warned as she teleported to where she sensed Rikku's presence.

"Lu! You gotta help!" Rikku cried pointing to the door as the Psypath appeared in the hallway. Lulu just shook her head. "He's dead. We have to go now. Come on." she said taking the young girls hand in hers and teleported them to the Ragnarok.

Several days later…

"What do you mean both gates were destroyed?" Chelsea screamed upon learning that both Rayna and Makata went through the gate to Fluidic Space. "There was nothing we could do. Millennium changed plans on us." Snow reported to the Senshi council as a messenger entering the room interrupted them. "Another delegation requesting permission to land?" Sailor Uranus astounded. "This is all getting to be too much. Countless planetary leaders…an entire planet of people in stasis in orbit…another Psypath showing up…Rayna trapped in Fluidic Space and even harder to believe…Millennium is dead." Sailor Mercury's last statement silencing everyone at the table.

"Maybe all these world leaders coming here is a good thing. We can ask for assistance in rebuilding our deep space fleet." Cosmic Venus spoke up, noting the open opportunity and restarting previous conversations. "I want to talk to that Psypath and that group that came here. If they are the ones that built that gate then they can build another one. Where are they anyway?" Chelsea questioned. "I think they went with Mina." Elysian Mars answered.

At the forest mansion…

"You mean all these people have come from Fluidic Space?" Mina gasped as she took note of those in attendance. Some races she knew and a lot of them she had never met before. "Races from your universe are here too." Dischord pointed out some of them as they moved through the mansion. "I don't believe it! Some of these people have been bitter enemies for thousands of years but here they are talking to one another as if they were friends." she remarked as they came up to Areona who was surrounded by a group of people. Some offered condolences, some were looking for her assistance and a number of them had threatened her if she repeated her past. Seeing Mina, she excused herself from the group and led her out to the terrace for a private conversation.

"How did I know you would show up?" she laughed as she closed the doors. "Well part of you is my daughter after all." Mina reminded. "You…never forgave him for that did you?" Areona asked as she leaned against the railing. "That and a few other things." Mina smiled slightly as she remembered back. "You still don't believe what he told you?" Areona amazed at her skepticism. "Your father loved playing games. It's hard to believe now that he's really gone. I keep thinking this is another of his mind illusion tricks." she admitted. "How much of what he said was the truth? Lies? I guess we'll never know now…Or will we?" Mina then added giving the young girl a sly look. Areona responded with a heavy sigh, "I should have gone with him. I can't do this on my own." she confided, blinking back a few tears. The two were interrupted by Dischord and Malice. "Time to address the children." Dischord reminded, forcing Areona to recompose herself. "Myself and the other Scouts will help you whenever you need it." Mina offered, Areona smiled slightly then left. "A kind offer but that is a promise neither you or anyone else can fulfill. Areona is alone now and needs to learn how to cope on her own." Dischord pointed out as she and Malice left Mina on the terrace.

"Well this is where you slinked off to." Lulu said upon finding Rikku by herself and unusually silent and depressed. "It must be bad if you pass up free food, talking dogs and all the Psypath secrets a mortal could ever wish to bear witness to contained in one library." Lulu thought aloud as she sat down next to her, "Let's hear it." "Druca tysh Kiytu." the girl muttered as Lulu gave a look of understanding. "And to stand there and apologize, expecting to be forgiven!" Rikku snapped, jumping up and pacing wildly. "Don't let anger cloud your reason. Have you forgotten the Al Bhed ship that passed us in coming here? Not all Al Bhed were killed in the war." Lulu pointed out, only to anger the young girl even more. "That's not the point! This was supposed to be a new start for both our people! But those damn dirty, underhanded, back stabbing Guado…" Rikku spouted only to get stopped by Lulu.

"It takes two to fight a war. What makes you think the Al Bhed are blameless for what happened? Maybe you should review the past and get a better understanding. Both of us have a lot of questions and the past is all we have to turn to for answers." Lulu pointed out, Rikku stopped her tirade and gave Lulu a look of sympathy. Before anything else could be said the others joined them. "We got a lead on the Phoenix." Payne told them as Rikku's eyes lit up.

"That's it!" she squealed as she pulled Lulu to her feet and started swinging her around. "What's 'it'? " she asked in bewildered annoyance, breaking free of the Al Bhed's grasp. "Simple! We use the Phoenix to bring back both our people!" she cheered. "Big order…Think the Phoenix can do all that?" Yuna wondered. "Without breaking a sweat!" Rikku declared. "Afterall, Rikku is the expert on Aeons." Payne stated dryly to have Rikku stick her tongue out at her in rebuttal. "Well what are we waiting for? Gimme a Y!" Yuna put to the group. "Gimme an R!" Rikku followed after her cousin. "Gimme a break!" Payne muttered, rubbing her temples. "Well you three have fun. I'll be here for a little while yet. Myself and Areona have much to talk about." Lulu said and left the three to carry out their search.

--Next: A Fateful Summoning--


End file.
